Reusable surgical instruments provide a potential route for the transmission of pathogenic agents between patients in healthcare facilities. As such, the decontamination process between uses is a vital component in the prevention of healthcare-associated infections. This article reviews reported outbreaks and incidents associated with inappropriate, inadequate, or unsuccessful decontamination of surgical instruments, indicating potential pitfalls of decontamination practices worldwide. To the author's knowledge, this is the first review of surgical instrument decontamination failures. Databases of medical literature, Medline and Embase, were searched systematically. Articles detailing incidents associated with unsuccessful decontamination of surgical instruments were identified. Twenty-one articles were identified reporting incidents associated with failures in decontamination. A large proportion of incidents involved the attempted disinfection, rather than sterilization, of surgical instruments (43

作者：P M, Southworth

来源：The Journal of hospital infection 2014 年 88卷 3期