Ethylene oxide residues in Gelfoam

Abstract

As the increasing need to reduce medical costs, there was a demand for the sterilization of medical devices, either for reuse or for simple disinfection, for devices that had their packages open, but were not used. The ethylene oxide sterilization is widely used, especially when medical devices are thermal sensitive. Due to the high toxicity of ethylene oxide and byproducts, residues should be eliminated by an efficient device aeration after sterilization. The demand for sterilization does not always take into consideration the ethylene oxide sterilization possibility, as the oxide can modify the material characteristics, or even being of difficult aeration, what ena-bles the residues accumulation. The present study deals with the feasibility of ethylene oxide sterilization of the product known as Gelfoam, classified as a surgical sponge. The results advise against Gelfoam ethylene oxide sterilization due to the great residues retention, above the limits established, and therefore can have human adverse effects.