Sterilization Process

The information below details specific steps in the process for cleaning and sterilizing surgical instruments, as well as the point at which hydraulic fluid was accidentally introduced into the cleaning systems in late 2004. The process varies somewhat from hospital to hospital.

  1. Dirty instruments come from operating rooms and other areas throughout the hospital to the decontamination area.
  2. Instruments are cleaned manually and/or mechanically.
  3. Instruments are inserted into a tunnel-like or single-chamber unit washing machine. The multi-step washing and rinsing process takes 16 or more minutes. Detergent is introduced in the second and third steps, in which the instruments are washed with a small amount of the detergent diluted into several gallons of hot water. This is the stage in which hydraulic fluid was introduced.
  4. As part of the cleaning process, a lubricant is applied to the clean instruments to prevent rust and ensure the instruments do not lock up during use.
  5. Instruments are removed by hand from the washing machine in the next room and manually sorted on tables into bundled sets prior to sterilization.
  6. Instruments are then placed into another machine for sterilization. In the 50-minute sterilization process, instruments are conditioned and sterilized in very high-temperature steam (the equivalent of pressure-cooking in a 270-degree Fahrenheit oven-like chamber) to destroy any possible organisms.
  7. Instruments are then sent to the operating rooms or other areas throughout the hospital.