When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a letter to healthcare providers in April 2021 announcing its investigation into numerous medical device reports involving reprocessed urological endoscopes, Dr. Seth Bechis and his colleagues set out to learn more about reprocessing and its effectiveness.

They focused on flexible ureteroscopes in their research and found that, while studies assessing the effectiveness of on these specific scopes is limited, their findings line up with recent news about other flexible endoscopes — that a surprising number still harbor protein and other debris even after reprocessing, raising patient safety concerns.

Their findings were published in the journal Urology. We caught up with Dr. Bechis at the American Urological Association’s annual convention in New Orleans to talk more about the study.

Dr. Bechis is a board-certified urologist and member of the comprehensive Kidney Stone Center at UC San Diego Health. He's also an Ambu consultant.

Show notes:

• Bio: Dr. Seth Bechis
• Urology: “Reprocessing Effectiveness for Flexible Ureteroscopes: A Critical Look at the Evidence”
• Single-Use Endoscopy: “FDA Investigating Reports of Infections Associated with Reprocessed Urological Endoscopes”
• The FDA’s Letter to Healthcare Providers: Infections Associated with Reprocessed Urological Endoscopes
• Single-Use Endoscopy: “Why Problems with Reprocessing Ureteroscopes ‘Haven’t Gone Away’”
• Endoscopy Insights: Breaking Down the FDA Letter to Healthcare Providers

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Endoscopy Insights is a podcast devoted to conversations with thought leaders in flexible and single-use endoscopy. In each episode we’ll explore the ways different clinical and technological innovations are moving the field of endoscopy forward.       

Endoscopy Insights is brought to you by Single-Use Endoscopy, part of the Ambu Learning Center. Ambu has been bringing healthcare solutions of the future to life since 1937.