A Comparative Study of the Manual, Automated, and Ultrasonic Surgical-Instrument Cleaning Methods

Cleaning is one of the most important steps in preparing surgical instruments for reuse. Thorough cleaning can ensure more effective sterilization, protect treatment teams and patients from transmissible infections, and extend the life of surgical instruments. This study was conducted to compare the manual, automated, and ultrasonic methods of cleaning surgical instruments. 

In this quasi-experimental study, three types of surgical instruments, namely curved hemostats, suction tips, and Metzenbaum scissors, (n=90) from among 20 surgical sets were randomly selected and assigned to three cleaning groups viz manual, automated, and ultrasonic. After the instruments were cleaned, surface protein and blood residue swab tests were conducted and the results were recorded on a data-registration form. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16 and descriptive and inferential statistical methods.

According to the research results, in manually cleaned instruments group, 8 (26.7%) tested positive for blood and 10 (33.3%) tested positive for protein. Of the 30 automatically cleaned instruments, 6 (20%) tested positive for blood and 7 (23.3%) tested positive for protein and of the 30 ultrasonically cleaned instruments, 1 (3.3%) tested positive for blood and protein. The chi-square test showed a statistically significant difference between the three methods of cleaning residual blood and protein from the surgical instruments (p<0.05).

The results revealed that according to the research results, of the three cleaning methods, ultrasonic cleaning was by far the most effective in removing blood and protein residues from the surgical instruments. Hence, we suggest that ultrasonic cleaning can be routinely utilized as an efficient cleaning method in medical centers.