A Gastrointestinal Endoscopy study found risk factors for bacteria transmissions and infections from tainted duodenoscopes.
University of California in Los Angeles researchers examined 104 patients who underwent endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography with tainted duodenoscopes at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles between Oct. 3, 2014 and Jan. 28, 2015.
Here are five points:
1. In 2015, eight patients at the facility were sickened.
2. Three of those patients died due to duodenoscope contamination.
3. Of the 104 patients examined, about 14.4 percent developed an active infection.
4. The following factors increased infection risk:
- Using a tainted scope to place a stent in the bile duct
- The patient had a history of bile duct cancer
- The patient was a hospital inpatient at the time of the procedure
5. Based on these study's findings, researchers recommend physicians use improved disinfection techniques to minimize infection risk, as well more closely evaluate specific patients who may carry an increased carbapanem-resistant enterobacteriaceae infection risk.