Comparative Analysis of Bedpan Processing Equipment - Hygie

1 INTRODUCTION
Infection control is a fundamental aspect of the quality of hospital service, and
reprocessing medical devices is one of its key components. Reprocessing involves
cleaning, disinfecting and (or) sterilizing soiled reusable medical devices to make them
safe for reuse. The alternative to reprocessing is to use disposable devices. Depending on
the medical device and what it is used for, several reprocessing methods are available to
disinfection and sterile processing professionals. This technical brief will analyze two
types of equipment used to reprocess soiled bedpans: bedpan washers and macerators.
Bedpans are receptacles used in hospitals to collect the excreta of bedridden patients.
Depending on their constituent material, bedpans may be single-use (disposable) or
reusable. Given that bedpans come in contact with human waste, they must be
disinfected before reuse. The equipments analyzed here have very different purposes.
Macerators are used to destroy disposable pulp bedpans, while bedpan washers are used
to reprocess reusable bedpans. Choosing between these two equipments or an alternative
solution can be a rather complex decision for administrators.
With the aim of developing an action plan on reprocessing medical devices to help guide
health administrators’ decisions, the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux
(MSSS) is giving consideration to available reprocessing technologies and their
alternatives. That is why the Direction des investissements, the investment branch of the
MSSS, asked the Agence d’évaluation des technologies de la santé et des modes
d’intervention (AETMIS) to perform an analysis comparing the use of bedpan washers
with that of macerators for disposable bedpans.
This technical brief aims to answer the following assessment questions: How does the
use of bedpan washers for reusable bedpans compare with that of macerators for
disposable bedpans? What issues are involved? What are the Canadian and international
perspectives on this matter? This comparative analysis will be based on four main
aspects: safe use (infection control), organizational issues (infrastructures, human and
material resources), economic issues, and environmental issues (production of
disposable materials and waste management). Although not mentioned in the assessment
request, the use of hygienic bags, a practice adopted by some hospitals in Québec, will
also be addressed as an alternative to the two types of equipment mentioned above.
1