Comparison of microbial contamination of enteral feeding solution between repeated use of administration sets after washing with water and after washing followed by disinfection.

We compared microbial contamination of in-use enteral feeding solution from repeatedly used administration sets (a delivery bag and an infusion tube) after washing with water or washing followed by disinfection. In eight hospitals where administration sets were re-used after washing with water, residual solution was collected from both the delivery bag and the distal end of the infusion tube immediately after use and the microbial contamination level and microbial species found examined. The residual enteral feeding solution (28 samples) in the delivery bag grew 10(2)-10(8) colony forming units (cfu)/mL and 36 samples from the distal end of the infusion tube grew 10(2)-10(9) cfu/mL. Re-processing was changed to washing with water followed by disinfection with 0.1% (100 ppm) sodium hypochlorite, and similar examinations were performed. The residual solutions in the bag (22 samples) and in the distal end of the infusion tube (24 samples) were contaminated with < 10(1)-10(4) cfu/mL each, a significant decrease (P < 0.01, Wilcoxon U-test) compared with washing with water alone.