Disposable chlorine dioxide wipes for high-level disinfection in the ENT department: A systematic review

Time‐effectiveness and convenience of transvaginal ultrasound probe disinfection using ultraviolet vs chlorine dioxide multistep wipe system: prospective survey study

“…Clinicians in emergency departments and those in obstetrics and gynecology internationally have reported difficulties in adhering to current disinfection protocols, which take several minutes, delaying patient care and interrupting workflow 25,27 . Although it has been estimated that the multiwipe system takes 2–3 min 20 , in clinical practice we have found this to be longer, especially when compared with the use of the UV‐C device. A typical ultrasound scan session within our unit comprises 15 patients over 4 h. This amounts to 37 min 15 s extra time available when using UV‐C over chlorine dioxide multiwipes for HLD.…”

“…However, although single‐use wipe systems are less cumbersome and may provide similar time benefits to those of UV‐C, effectiveness of both single‐ and multiwipe systems may be hindered by issues related to reproducibility and subjectivity. The resulting inconsistent and unreliable HLD may slow down workflow and compromise patient safety 1 , 4 , 20 , 25 .…”

“…However, chlorine dioxide solutions are known to be toxic and irritant, can cause severe skin burns and eye injury and come with warnings to use eye protection 22 . While the wipes are less odorous and more user‐friendly than ortho‐phthalaldehyde, UV‐C is chemical‐free, odorless and non‐corrosive 18 , 20 , 36 .…”

“…Disposable single or multistep wipes utilize chemicals such as chlorine dioxide. They are reported to require 2–3 min per disinfection and are effective at eradicating pathogens, including HPV 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 . Although chlorine dioxide is toxic, single and multistep wipes are easier to dispose of and are safer than chemical baths 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 22 .…”

Reply

“…We feel it is important to reiterate that this study was designed with the proviso that both systems were and are commercially available to provide effective HLD of transvaginal ultrasound probes and are CE marked, having passed efficacy testing for HLD [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] . Furthermore, we state clearly in our manuscript that evaluation of antimicrobial efficacy was not the aim of our work.…”