Performance and Cost of Disposable Biopsy Forceps in Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy: Comparison with Reusable Biopsy Forceps

Abstract

Background/AimsIt is believed that disposable biopsy forceps are more costly than reusable biopsy forceps. In this study, we evaluated performance and cost of disposable forceps versus reusable forceps in esophagogastroduodenoscopic biopsy.MethodsBetween October 2009 and July 2010, we enrolled 200 patients undergoing esophagogastroduodenoscopic biopsy at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital. Biopsies were performed with 100 disposable or 5 reusable forceps by random assignment. Seventy-five additional patients were studied to estimate durability of reusable forceps. The assisting nurses estimated the performance of the forceps. The evaluation of costs included purchase prices and reprocessing costs. The adequacy of the sample was estimated according to the diameter of the obtained tissue.ResultsPerformance of disposable forceps was estimated as excellent in 97.0%, good in 2.0% and adequate in 1.0%. Reusable forceps were estimated as excellent in 36.0%, good in 36.0%, adequate in 25.1% and inadequate in 2.9%. The performance of reusable forceps declined with the number of uses. The reprocessing cost of reusable forceps for one biopsy session was calculated as ₩8,021. The adequacy of the sample was excellent for both forceps.ConclusionsDisposable forceps showed excellent performance. Considering the reprocessing costs of reusable forceps, usage of disposable forceps with a low price should be considered.

Current Status of Endoscope Reprocessing in Korea

“…Although reusable biopsy forceps may be effectively reprocessed and sterilized, a clear tendency toward the use of disposable forceps has been observed. 3 Recently, Lim et al 13 reported that disposable forceps performed better and cost less than reusable forceps. They found that the reprocessing of reusable forceps for one biopsy was calculated as 8,021 won.…”

Is non-woven fabric a useful method of packaging instruments for operation theatres in resource constrained settings?

“…[4,12] For instance, Lim and colleagues found that disposable forceps was a cost-effective option compared with reusable forceps. [13] Similarly Moylan and co-workers reported that disposable gowns and drapes were most cost-effective compared with regular cotton fabrics in various hospital settings. [4,7] Figure 2: Graph showing multiple iterations for total cost (initial preparation and resterilisation) of woven and non-woven fabric a , a = The diagonal line represents the total cost of woven fabric at various retserilisation proportions (0.1% to 11%); the multiple horizontal lines represent the total cost of non-woven fabric at 10 different resterilisation proportions (0.5% to 5% in increments of 0.5%) -the lowest horizontal line is 0.5% and it increases by 0.5% subsequently and highest horizontal line is 5% However, not all authors agree with this proposition.…”

Evaluating Quality and Adequacy of Gastrointestinal Samples Collected using Reusable or Disposable Forceps

“…There were 6 endoscopists who had biopsied at least 4 dogs (range [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. Median stomach depth scores were 0.5 different between two endoscopists with single-use forceps (p = .032).…”

“…It is currently unknown whether sample quality degenerates with repeated use of a reusable biopsy forceps in multiple dogs compared with single‐use forceps (use/dog) and the time period over which this occurs. Declining function of reusable forceps is illustrated in people after 24 single uses, although the method of sampling is not comparable to veterinary gastrointestinal endoscopy . At the author's institution, reusable forceps become more cost effective as compared to single‐use forceps after 10 dogs.…”

“…Declining function of reusable forceps is illustrated in people after 24 single uses, although the method of sampling is not comparable to veterinary gastrointestinal endoscopy. 10 At the author's institution, reusable forceps become more cost effective as compared to single-use forceps after 10 dogs. The aim of this study was to compare the adequacy and quality of reusable and single-use gastrointestinal biopsy samples for histological examination and to establish a numerical limit where reusable alligator standard cup biopsy forceps show decline in sample quality compared to single-use forceps beyond the point of cost effectiveness (10 dogs).…”