Just hope that they use an automated endoscope reprocessor instead of manual (i.e. human) reprocessing. Most endoscopy centers use glutaraldehyde as the high-level disnfectant---->So just pray that it was flushed well enough to remove and residual glutaraldehyde...if not you will know REALLY QUICKLY as your will get chemical burns.
There are some peracetic acid based disinfectants although they have not caught on too much in the U.S. yet. And lord help you if you have an older clinic that still uses formaldehyde.:frown:
You should really request to see the endoscope reprocessing room ahead of time. The larger clinics will have automated endoscope reprecessors (AER) but most of the smaller ones still do manual reporcessing. They ALL do manual pre-processing (cleaning) of the scopes. When in the room, if they do manual they will put the scope in a sink filled with detergent. They will brush the outside of the scope, and then use a little brush and clean the interior channels (lumens) of the scope from connection point to the distal tip (end). After this detergent wash, the sink should be drained and refilled with clean rinse water. I have seen many places NOT CHANGE the detergent or rinse water (multiple sink facilities) between scopes----YUCK.:thumbsdown:
Also during the rinse the techs are required to flush a certain amount of clean rinsate though each of the scope channels. This is normally accomplished with a syringe, which can be rather hard because of the small channel (lumen) size. Also the Pentax or Fuji scopes have internal check valves internal to the scope which makes this step even harder (unlike the Olypus scopes without these checkvalves).
Good luck to you. All I can say at this point is better you than me.
