Know the risks: ultrasound and healthcare-associated infections

Ultrasound is one of the most common procedures in the United States, with more than 140 million ultrasound procedures performed every year.¹ These procedures are highly variable, spanning many areas of medicine and involving different techniques, clinical environments or patient characteristics. Given this variability, appropriate infection control is essential to lower the risk of infection transmission. In 2020, drug-resistant pathogens caused a 15% increase in healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in the United States and a similar increase in patient deaths.² It is now estimated that 1 in 31 U.S. hospital patients has at least one HAI.3 Proper reprocessing of medical devices, including ultrasound probes, is one of the key strategies required to break the chain of infection transmission and protect patients.