Evaluación del efecto de la reutilización sobre dispositivos médicos de único uso en una institución de salud del Valle del Cauca

Abstract

The reuse of single-use medical devices (SUDs) is a common practice in our country's health institutions. Although this may lead to consequences, their extensive use is due to the costs of acquiring new devices, hazardous medical waste reduction and the positive impact on accessibility to health services. In Colombia there is no regulation that prohibits the reuse of SUDs; otherwise, the Colombian norm “resolution 2003 of 2014”, allows the reuse of a single-use medical device, as long as there is scientific evidence about its security. For this study, an analysis and characterization of five reused SUDs types in a Valle del Cauca health institution was performed: the inflatable anesthesia mask, the 23G vitrectomia handpiece, the combined constellation cassette and indigo cutters polishing and shearing, for which reuse procedures were identified and laboratory tests were applied for microbiological analysis, structural analysis and leak testing, to verify the functional characteristics of each type of medical device. As a result, it was shown that inflatable masks for anesthesia can be reused a maximum of five times, the handpiece vitrectomia 23G could be reused two and up to three more cycles, the constellation cassette can be reused up to one fifth cycle with the possibility of reuse in an additional cycle, diamond-encrusted milling cutters with a maximum of twice and for medical devices cutting cutters is left in a subsequent study where a metallographic and specialized hardness analysis will be performed by evidence of deformations found during structural analyses.