The other half is care
How we build an instrument is our half. How it’s cleaned, sterilized and handled is yours — and it decides how long the instrument lives. Here is the whole procedure, start to finish.
Intended use & safety
HiTeck surgical instruments are designed for a specific function — cutting, grasping, clamping, dissecting, probing, retracting, draining, aspirating, suturing or ligating — for use by, or as directed by, a qualified clinician. Use each instrument only for the purpose it is designed for. The proper technique for its use is the responsibility of the treating clinician. Instruments are supplied non-sterile and must be cleaned, lubricated and sterilized before every use, including the first.
Inspect every instrument
On receipt and before each use — moving parts, tips, box locks, ratchets, cutting edges, and every screw.
Don’t use a faulty one
Worn ratchets, loose box locks and misaligned jaws can usually be repaired for a fraction of replacement cost.
Cycles don’t wear them out
Repeated reprocessing has minimal effect — end of life is determined by wear from use, not by cycles.
What steel can’t forgive
Acidic or alkaline solutions strip the chromium-oxide barrier that protects the steel — the start of corrosion, pitting and breakage. Neutral pH only, at every step.
Never
Five chemistries that attack surgical steel on contact.
- Aqua regia
- Iodine
- Ferric chloride
- Sulfuric acid
- Hydrochloric acid
On contact, rinse immediately.
Avoid wherever possible
Chlorides and oxidisers. Rinse off quickly if contact is unavoidable.
- Saline
- Sodium hypochlorite (bleach)
- Dakin’s solution
- Carbolic acid
- Aluminum chloride
- Barium chloride
- Calcium chloride
- Mercury chloride
- Bichloride of mercury
- Potassium permanganate
- Potassium thiocyanate
- Chlorinated lime
- Stannous chloride
Pull it from service
Two situations where no cleaning cycle can help.
Corrosion spreads.Rust particles transfer from instrument to instrument in the same cycle. The moment one instrument shows corrosion, pull it from service — it will seed rust on everything it’s processed with.
CJD.An instrument used — or suspected of having been used — on a patient with Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease cannot be reprocessed or reused. It must be destroyed.
Eleven steps, in order
Process every instrument fully open or disassembled — solution and steam only work on the surfaces they can touch. Neutral pH (6–8) detergents only, at every step.
Keep them moist
Straight after the procedure, cover instruments with a towel moistened with sterile distilled water. Don’t let soil dry on.
Enzymatic soak
Immerse fully opened instruments in an enzymatic solution made for surgical instruments. Follow the maker’s dilution, temperature and soak time. Fill lumens completely.
Rinse
Rinse thoroughly under tap water after the recommended soak. Flush lumens until the water runs clear.
Clean
Use a neutral-pH cleaning solution. Acidic or alkaline solutions strip the chromium-oxide barrier that protects the steel — the start of corrosion, pitting and breakage.
Rinse again
Immerse in tap water and wipe with a clean, soft cloth. Flush lumens until clear.
Ultrasonic clean
After gross soil is off, run an ultrasonic cycle in a mesh-bottom stainless tray to reach grooves, crevices and moving parts. Follow the ultrasonic maker’s times and detergents, and degas the solution.
Final rinse — treated water
Finish with softened or deionized water. Hard water spots and stains; excess chlorine pits. Deionized is preferred.
Decontaminate
Render instruments safe for handling and inspection — steam without a wrapper, or disinfect per the instrument, sterilizer and disinfectant instructions.
Inspect and assemble
Check cleanliness and function as sets are assembled. After ultrasonic cleaning, check every screw — vibration loosens them. Do not use damaged instruments.
Lubricate
Apply instrument milk to box locks and moving parts, diluted per its instructions. Ultrasonic cleaning strips all lubrication, so this step follows it every time.
Dry completely
Wet packs come out of the sterilizer wet and contaminate on handling — and moisture left in box locks and hinges corrodes and weakens the joint. Dry fully before wrapping.
Washer-disinfectors
Washer-sterilizers and washer-disinfectors are also acceptable: follow the machine manufacturer’s specifications and use a low-foaming, free-rinsing detergent at neutral pH.
Approved steam cycles
Terminal sterilization. Exposure may run longer than the minimum shown, never shorter.
| Temperature | Cycle | Exposure | Min. dry |
|---|---|---|---|
| 121°C250°F | Pre-vacuum, wrapped | 20 min | 20 min |
| 132°C270°F | Pre-vacuum, wrapped | 4 min | 20 min |
| 134°C273°F | Pre-vacuum, wrapped | 3 min | 15 min |
| 132°C270°F | Pre-vacuum, unwrapped | 4 min | — |
| 132°C270°F | Gravity steam, wrapped | 18 min | — |
Reading spots and stains
Nearly all staining is minerals or residue on the surface, not a defect in the steel. The colour tells you the cause.
Brown
Polyphosphate detergents dissolving copper in the sterilizer, deposited back electrolytically — or a dull brown-blue oxide film, which is harmless and actually protective. Change detergent or check quantities.
Blue
Usually cold-sterilization solutions used beyond their proportions or time limits. Mix exactly, change on schedule; distilled water plus a rust inhibitor slows the discolouration.
Black
Ammonia contact — many cleaning compounds contain it, and it stays on the instrument unless rinsed out completely.
Spots
Condensation pooling and drying, leaving the water’s minerals behind. Treated water for the final rinse, wraps laundered to pH 6.8–7.0, and a clean sterilizer chamber prevent most of it.
“Rust”
Surgical steel very rarely rusts. What looks like rust is usually baked-on organic matter in box locks, or an iron film from high-iron water. Treated final-rinse water prevents it.
Care is a condition of coverage
Following this procedure is a condition of warranty coverage — damage from skipped steps, wrong chemistry or improper handling sits outside it. The full terms, including the warranty period for every instrument category, live on one page. Instruments ship non-sterile with a printed copy of these instructions.
Questions about a cycle?
Send us the catalogue number and your sterilizer model. We’ll confirm the right cycle before you run it.
or email info@hiteckmedical.com · call 877.899.1861