Why Thorough Drying of Endoscopes Is Essential
Cleaning and disinfection are at the heart of endoscope reprocessing. However, there is another step that is just as important, yet sometimes overlooked in everyday practice: thorough drying.
Cleaning and disinfection are at the heart of endoscope reprocessing. However, there is another step that is just as important, yet sometimes overlooked in everyday practice: thorough drying.
If residual moisture remains inside the channels, it can encourage microbial growth and contribute to the formation of biofilms. Thorough drying is therefore just as essential to safe endoscope reprocessing as cleaning and disinfection.
Why Residual Moisture Is a Concern
Flexible endoscopes contain narrow and complex internal channels where residual moisture may remain after cleaning and disinfection. Moisture creates favourable conditions for microbial growth and can also promote the formation of biofilms. These are considered particularly critical because microorganisms within a biofilm are better protected and significantly more difficult to remove.
For this reason, clinical guidelines and endoscope manufacturers recommend actively drying the channels using filtered air.
The importance of thorough drying is consistently recognised in international guidelines and recommendations. While UK guidance explicitly recommends active channel drying using filtered air, Germany, France, Spain and many other countries follow the European ESGE/ESGENA recommendations. In many Asian countries, drying is likewise regarded as an essential part of safe endoscope reprocessing.
Not Every Healthcare Facility Uses Fully Automated Systems
In large hospitals, endoscope reprocessing is often carried out using washer-disinfectors with integrated drying programmes. In doctors' surgeries, outpatient clinics and laboratories, however, the situation is often different. Here, drying is frequently performed as a separate process step.
The key consideration is not whether reprocessing is carried out manually or automatically. What matters is that every stage of the process is performed reliably. This includes thorough drying.
Drying Also Affects Instrument Availability
Drying is not only important for infection prevention. It also has a direct impact on day-to-day clinical workflows. Reliable drying helps to:
- make endoscopes available for reuse more quickly,
- reduce waiting times,
- support efficient clinical workflows, and
- maximise the use of available instruments.
This can be particularly important in practices with a limited number of endoscopes.
Filtered Compressed Air Supports Drying
The use of filtered compressed air has become an established method for drying endoscopes and similar instruments. The objective is not the technology itself, but a reliable and reproducible reprocessing process. Targeted drying of the internal channels helps remove residual moisture and supports the requirements for safe endoscope reprocessing.
In addition to endoscopes, this also applies to other instruments with lumens or narrow internal channels, such as those commonly used in medical practices and laboratories.
Compact Solutions for Medical Practices and Laboratories
Thorough drying must also be ensured reliably in doctors' surgeries, smaller healthcare facilities and laboratories. As not every facility has washer-disinfectors with integrated drying programmes, compact stand-alone solutions are often required. Gastroenterology, respiratory medicine and ENT practices in particular benefit from systems that complement existing equipment and can be integrated easily into established clinical workflows.
With the SICOLAB mini ENDO, Dürr Technik offers a compressor station specifically developed for drying endoscopes and minimally invasive surgical (MIS) instruments. It is certified as a Class I medical device in accordance with MDR 2017/745 and supports reproducible reprocessing through the use of filtered, oil-free compressed air.
We will be pleased to help you select the right solution for your specific application.
