Sterilization of Instruments

So, I just bought a couple pieces of equipment.... and I'm really excited about using them, but I don't trust them to be completely sterile b/c I bought them on ebay. So my question is... I don't want to ruin/rust the metal, but is there any solution that is safe to leave the metal instruments in overnight? Can I leave them soaking in bleach or will that slowly mess them up? Anybody know>

Hi luv4medfet,

Good job - you absolutely should clean and sterilize all new instruments, and again before re-using them. Many good quality metal medical instruments are made of stainless steel and will not easily rust. You can wash them with soapy water, sterilize in bleach, and rinse in sterile water (distilled or bottled from a sealed container is OK). If your instrument is chrome plated then the base metal is probably not stainless and there is more of a potential for rust. You don't need to soak in bleach overnight unless your instument has internal surfaces where it's difficult to get the bleach in. According to CDC ten minutes in 10% bleach solution is enough for accessible surfaces. You can also use your oven. 350F for 30 minutes will kill everything and not adversely affect the metal.

Warm Regards,

DrW

You can try ultrasonic cleaners

Luv4medfet, you should not soak any metal instruments in a bleach solution for any longer than 30 minutes. Chlorine is a halogen salt which corrodes metals, particularly stainless steel, so to minimize corrosion do not leave instruments soaking for any extended period of time. Bleach solutions lose their free chlorine ions quickly so the most effective is using a fresh solution for the recommended time only, anything more does nothing to sanitize the instrument further.

AngstPat, you are correct that ultrasonic cleaners work well to clean metal instruments. They are the best method of cleaning areas such as box joints and serrated tips of forceps missed by a brush. If you had one large enough to use for instruments, with a suitable cold sterilant solution it would be excellent for urological instruments.

See in the Saftey board, "What is really sterile?" Hopefully it will answer some of your questions as well.

How about boiling them in a pot or something similar? I'm considering purchasing some urethral sounds on Ebay and want them to be sterile. I've gotten a UTI from insertion play before and it was horrible, I absolutely do not want it to happen again. The sounds I buy will be stainless steel. What is the most effective way to sterilize them?

Thanks!

Wash them real good with detergent and soak them in alcohol, wipe them dry, wrap them in aluminum foil and baked them in your oven for 2 hours at 350 degrees.

There are several ways to sterilize metal instruments. the most common way is to boil them, preferably in distilled water, for about an hour before each use. after use, it is necessary to wash them in soapy water and rinse carefully.

although any high-quality surgical steel does not corrode easily, it is not advisable to use bleach to store the metal instruments in or even apply it onto the metal surfaces. it is possible to use alcohol to clean metal or stainless steel instruments, but this will not make them sterile.

i am not aware of any effective way to sterilize plastic or rubber instruments. as such, it is always a good practice to use new disposable instruments.

Really an autoclave is required. a good source being the tattoo shops. they often have an older one to sell or if not they know someone who does. I have had several play doctors I stay in touch with tell me they aquired one this way at a very reasonable cost

sarah

Sarah is right. The steam from an autoclave will penetrate and sterilize those little cracks, crevices and and other places that might not be reached by boiling water and there are microbial spores that will survive boiling.

A carboxyclave is handy for rubber and plastic devices but very expensive, not easy to aquire, and most important it uses a highly toxic gas which requires special handling. I don't think any responsable vendor would sell one to an untrainied individual because of the danger in the gas.

A tattoo shop may also be willing to run your equipment through their autoclave for a small fee, if you don't think you would use it often enough to justify purchasing even a used autoclave. All you can do is ask, and the worst they can say is no, right?

I did a bit of research and here is w hat I came up with. Your comments would be appreciated.

1: according to CDC, HIV cannot survive ouside the body and dies rather quickly. So why not simple cleaning in bleach, drying and storrage before reuse?

From CDC document: In laboratory studies, fresh undiluted household bleach (5.25% sodium hypochlorite) appears to kill HIV pretty well. Scientists also have tested whether other liquids can disinfect syringes. These liquids, which are sometimes used by IDUs, include dish detergent, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide,and fortified wine. Results of these few studies are limited.Some research has found that even several vigorous rinses with clean watermay be as effective as undiluted household bleach because they do a good jobof reducing the number of infectious viruses. As for hepatitis, also from CDC: The Hepatitis C virus can survive outside the body at room temperature, on environmental surfaces, for at least 16 hours but no longer than 4 days. I think we aslo have to understand that much of the information is based on syringes used by drug users, or instruments used in clinics wich may be reused several times a day. If a medfet instrument is cleaned, bleached. even baked in an oven at 500degrees and then stored for a month before reuse, How can it transmit HIV or Hep?