Single-use gastroscopes are potentially an “important option” toward “minimizing and eventually eliminating the risk of endoscopically transmitted infections,’’ according to recently published research.
Plus, single-use endoscopes are efficient as hospitals increasingly combine certain pulmonary and GI procedures into one service, which can reduce hospital stays and costs.
“As interventional pulmonologists, we typically are used to placing tracheostomies, but there is a lot of added value in adding gastrostomies to the service,” Dr. Van K. Holden, an interventional pulmonologist and associate professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said in a May 2023 webinar.
“Many patients in the ICU simultaneously develop a need for a tracheostomy as well as a gastrostomy,” she added during the webinar, hosted by Women in Interventional Pulmonology (WIIP) and available to members on the organization’s website.
More than 58,000 tracheostomies and between 160,000 and 200,000 percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) procedures are performed in the U.S. each year, Holden said.
GI endoscopes are delicate and susceptible to damage, experts say. Single-use gastroscopes are lighter weight and occupy less space, making them a convenient alternative.
Looking at the Research
A retrospective cohort study of about 300 patients showed multiple advantages for conducting GI and pulmonary procedures together. They included reducing average ICU length of stay and the median hospital length of stay, resulting in an overall reduction of $35,000 in hospital costs, Holden said.
One 2022 study that documented combining tracheostomy and PEG showed a five-day reduction in ICU stays, an eight-day reduction in mean hospital stays and a cost reduction of more than $26,000 annually, or about $2.5 million a year.
Ambu offers the single-use Ambu® aScope™ 5 HD Broncho System and aScope™ Gastro which can combine these procedures that Holden discussed in the webinar. That system, sometimes referred to as cluster care, minimizes patient transfer, limits contact and saves PPE.
Single-Use Vs. Reusable Gastroscope?
A recent study, in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, concluded that disposable gastroscopes can be a favorable option in certain circumstances.
Endoscopy-transmitted infections are rare, but “even a rare rate of endoscopic cross-contamination could affect the health of individuals,” the authors write. Single-use gastroscopes are potentially an “important option” toward “minimizing and eventually eliminating the risk of endoscopically transmitted infections.”
