Reusable gastroscopes typically degrade simply from normal wear-and-tear, accidental damage and multiple repairs over their lifetime of use.
In contrast, single use gastroscopes like the Ambu® aScope™ Gastro are brand new for each patient and thus “perform consistently like new,” according to a study out of Ventura, California.
Reliable retroflexion is essential for diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopic examination of the foregut. Yet, commonly used reusable scopes can deteriorate from their optimal performance given degradation, making their clinical use less reliable, according to the study by physicians Shreyash Pradhan and Helmuth T. Billy at Ventura’s Community Memorial Health Systems.
Retroflexion Results
The study compared retroflexion in the Ambu scopes with that in reusables randomly selected from their available hospital inventory. The researchers clamped the scopes to a board to establish a fixed platform and then flexed them backward to their maximum sustained angle.
The researchers made tracings and used a protractor for measurement.
The reusables achieved average backward flexion of 164 degrees, compared with the Ambu scope’s 210 degrees. Once an injection needle was introduced, backwards flexion in the reusables decreased to 147 degrees compared with 205 degrees in the Ambu scopes. With the introduction of biopsy forceps, the reusables’ backwards flexion decreased to 138 degrees. The Ambu devices attained 201 degrees.
Comparing the Numbers
Overall, the study found that the Ambu scopes achieved 21.9 percent superior retroflexion at baseline and more than 28.3 percent superior retroflexion with instruments when compared with reusable gastroscopes.
“Decreased articulation seen in RUDGs (reusable diagnostic gastroscopes) may limit the performance and visualization abilities of RUDGs compared to SUDGs (single-use diagnostic gastroscopes),” the authors wrote. “Improved field of view and increased angle of retroflexion of SUDGs may provide the endoscopist improved clinical capabilities via the increased degrees of backwards flexion.”
Those additional degrees of angulation may enable, “a more versatile tool during endoscopic therapies,” the authors added.
