EFHSS Questions and Answers - Question Q00675

Sir/ Madam,

I am working in the operating room in India. I would like to receive information on the following

Shelf life of autoclaved instruments in double packed linen and Double packed instruments with Westfield packaging material

Shelf life of ETO sterilized instruments

Shelf life of flash sterilized instruments

Thanking for your help. Waiting for your earliest reply.

Yours Sincerely,
Ann

Dear Ann

Approved and accepted sterilizing methods, be it Steam, ETO, Plasma etc. don't make a difference for the shelf-life.
There is one exception - FLASH-sterilization. Flash sterilization done with the item unwraped or with a single wrapper, are indended to transfer the item from the sterilizer to the point of the immediate use after sterilization.
On our EDUCATION page you can find the useful Recommendation by the German Quality Task Group; module 15: "Release and Storage of Medical Devices after Sterilization" (with a shelf-live timetable)
and under the category "Sterile Storage" several Q/A e.g. Yaffa's answer to question Q00570 with additional references to the topic.

Kind regards
Josy Holdener