Basic rules of reprocessing

We highly recommend that you choose only those products which have passed a material compatibility test by PENTAX. If you wish to use other products we recommend that you ask the manufacturer of the chemical to confirm material compatibility of our endoscopes with the product in question. For an updated list of compatible products please click here...

A disinfection solution having too high a concentration may cause damage to the soft synthetic material which in turn may entail reducing the life of the tubes. Furthermore, excessive use of cleaning agents and disinfectants increase costs unnecessarily.

Please make sure that the contact times for cleaning and disinfection recommended by the manufacturer are not exceeded. Otherwise, cleaning agents and disinfectants may accumulate in the tubing system and cause damage to the materials.

All PENTAX endoscopes can be reprocessed manually but also in washer-disinfectors. Please contact the relevant manufacturer for information on correct handling (e.g. regarding channel joints, leakage test ports, etc.).

When reprocessing your endoscope in a washer-disinfector after the manual brushing cycle, please make sure that residues from cleaning do not react with the reprocessing chemicals used in the washer-disinfector. If not observed, this may cause negative impact on material characteristics or affect efficacy of subsequent reprocessing steps.

If you alternate between manual and machine reprocessing of your endoscopes, it is imperative to check that the reprocessing agents used are compatible products.

Reprocessing basins should be large enough to ensure that the tubes are not excessively bent. In case that the bending radius is too small, the tubes may get buckled. Furthermore, in case of excessive bending the root brace rubbers may open up and allow ingress of disinfecting fluid underneath the root brace rubbers. Extended exposure to these chemicals may entail damage to the tube material.

Trying to clean nozzles or channels using wires or other pointed objects often ends up in damaging the endoscope’s lenses or channels. At PENTAX, a large number of models are equipped with a special channel and nozzle system that can be completely brushed (Model list-PDF). In these systems this is not an issue.

We highly recommend to solely use water-soluble medical lubricants. Paraffin- or vaseline-based lubricants are not suitable for use on PENTAX endoscopes.

Always try to avoid the use of silicone sprays with endoscopes. Silicone leaves debris on the surface of the tubes which cannot be easily removed.