Practical Experience of Endoscope Reprocessing and Working-Platform Disinfection in COVID-19 Patients: A Report from Guangdong China during the Pandemic

Lin, Xianqi; Zhang, Zhenyi; Gao, Minzhao; Zhang, Zhenling; Lin, Zhidong; Huang, Siwen; Ren, Jiangnan; Luo, Meijuan; Xu, Xiaoqing; Chen, Guilan; Chen, Hongjun; Lai, Renxu; Wu, Xiaochun; Zhang, Lihua; Li, Xiaofeng

BACKGROUND: No consensus exists regarding which procedures should be performed to disinfect endoscopes and working platforms after COVID-19 patients have undergone endoscopy. METHODS: We analyzed the disinfection quality of endoscopes and working platforms after 11 COVID-19 patients had undergone endoscopy. CONCLUSIONS: For endoscopic preprocessing at the bedside, a key disinfection step is using a multienzyme stock solution. The nucleic acid tests for endoscopists, washers, endoscopes, and working platforms were all negative. Based on our experience with the 11 COVID-19 patients who had undergone endoscopy, we provide an endoscopic reprocessing method for the bedside endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of COVID-19 patients for reference.