Document resource
Background To assess the microbial contamination status of auxiliary water channels in gastrointestinal endoscopes after routine cleaning and disinfection across six hospitals in Ningbo, and to preliminarily evaluate the intervention effect of targeted mechanical brushing.Methods A total of 89 endoscopes (38 gastroscopes and 51 colonoscopes) were randomly selected. The microbial pass rates and borescope cleanliness of the biopsy channel and auxiliary water channel were compared. Auxiliary water channels that failed the initial microbial test underwent targeted mechanical brushing using specialized micro-brushes, followed by retesting.Results The overall microbial pass rate for biopsy channels was 97.75% (87/89), while the initial pass rate for auxiliary water channels was 94.38% (84/89). The odds ratio for positive microbial findings in auxiliary water channels was 2.59 times higher than in biopsy channels (OR = 2.59, 95% CI: 0.49–13.63). Endoscopic observation revealed visible membranous biofilm residues in the auxiliary water channels. After targeted brushing of the five failed channels, the retest pass rate reached 100%.Conclusions The findings of this study suggest that under current routine cleaning procedures, auxiliary water channels may carry a risk of microbial residue and visible contamination, highlighting them as a potential weak link in the endoscope reprocessing workflow. Preliminary intervention results indicate that incorporating specialized micro-brushes for mechanical brushing helps improve the quality of cleaning and disinfection. Abstract IDDF2026-ABS-0203 Table 1Comparison of test results for auxiliary water channels of gastrointestinal endoscopes from six hospitals in ningbo before and after retestingHospitalTest ItemSample SizeBefore Retesting (Qualified Count)After Retesting (Qualified Count)Microbiological TestBorescope InspectionMicrobiological TestBorescope InspectionAgastroscopes43-4-B1616-16-C77-7-D32-3-E44-4-F44-4-Acolonoscopes2322222323B10991010C76677D55555E33333F33333Totalgastroscopes3836(94.74)-38(100.00)-colonoscopes5148(94.12)48(94.12)51(100.00)51(100.00)