Endoscopic biopsy is a common medical examination method. Its infection rate is usually low, but it will be affected by many factors. The following is a detailed analysis for you:
Overall infection rate
According to some studies and statistical data, the overall probability of infection caused by endoscopic biopsy is relatively low. According to statistics from the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy in 1993, the incidence of endoscopy-related infection was 1/1.8 million. However, the actual endoscopy-related infection rate may be higher than this number. For example, a prospective observation of 281 patients with negative Helicobacter pylori before endoscopy in the Netherlands showed that 3 cases (1%) were infected with Helicobacter pylori after endoscopy; Japanese scholars observed that 420 cases (0.02%) of 1,913,939 gastroscopy examinations had acute gastric mucosal lesions within about 1 week after the examination. These patients had negative serum Helicobacter pylori antibodies before endoscopy, and more than half of them turned positive after endoscopy. It is believed that the lesions are acute Helicobacter pylori infection caused by endoscopy.
Factors affecting the infection rate
- Disinfection situation
- Unstandardized disinfection: If the cleaning and disinfection of endoscopes and biopsy forceps are not strict and not performed according to the standard process, such as omitting or changing the cleaning and disinfection process steps, using chemical disinfectants improperly (irregular time, etc.), and the correct use rate of enzyme washing solution is low, the chance of infection will be greatly increased. Because the surface of the endoscope channel is uneven, it is easy to form bacterial biofilm. If the cleaning and disinfection is not thorough, the residual pathogenic microorganisms may be transmitted to the patient in the subsequent biopsy operation.
- Insufficient disinfection equipment: Some hospitals have unprofitable endoscope disinfection equipment and are unwilling to spend money and time on disinfection equipment, or the number of endoscopes is insufficient, and there is no dedicated cleaning and disinfection machine (or tank), etc., which may affect the disinfection effect and increase the risk of infection.
- Patient's own factors
- Low immunity: The patient's own immune status has an impact on the probability of infection. Patients with low immunity, such as those with malignant tumors, AIDS, long-term use of immunosuppressants, etc., have weak body resistance to infection and are more likely to get infected after endoscopic biopsy.
- Underlying diseases: Suffering from certain underlying diseases, such as diabetes, will affect the patient's healing ability and immune function, and increase the possibility of infection.
- Operating environment and personnel
- Operating environment: The number and area of the endoscopy room are insufficient, and the layout is unreasonable, resulting in the inability to separate the cleaning and disinfection from the treatment area, which is easy to cause cross contamination, thereby increasing the chance of infection.
- Operators: Insufficient training on cleaning and disinfection knowledge and infection control knowledge for operators, and frequent changes in endoscope cleaning and disinfection personnel, may lead to unskilled and non-standard disinfection operations, increasing the risk of infection.
Measures to reduce the chance of infection
In order to reduce the chance of infection in endoscopic biopsy, hospitals usually take a series of measures. Formulate and improve various systems, increase investment in digestive endoscopes and related disinfection facilities, standardize the layout of digestive endoscopy rooms, strengthen personnel training, standardize cleaning and disinfection techniques, etc., to ensure that the cleaning and disinfection of endoscopes and biopsy forceps are gradually standardized and managed in a standardized manner to minimize the possibility of infection.
