[Seetal]

A patient being treated with clindamycin for aspiration pneumonia develops diarrhea. The stool contains a toxin that kills cultured epithelial cells. Stool culture grows an anaerobic grampositive rod. The same organism is cultured from his bedpan. Which of the following is most likely to sterilize the bedpan?

(A) Boiling for 45 minutes
(B) Exposure to benzalkonium chloride for 1 hour
(C) Exposure to ethyl alcohol for 1 hour
(D) Exposure to saturated steam (121°C) for 15 minutes
(E) Heating in an oven at 150°C for 30 minutes

 

[doctorF]

pseudomembranous colitis, clostridium defficile..... didnt read sterilization yet

 

[Seetal]

you got the menace ryte. once u've read the sterilization techniques this question will be a breeze for u.

 

[HouseWannabe]

lol oh man it's been so long since i've brushed up on sterilization techniques, but i am just guessing that all hospital equipment like bed pans are sterilized by D.

 

[Mohabravo]

I'd pick up " C " ... I think ethyl alcohol ... Any suggestions ???

 

[ath.pantelis]

Hey, guys, such questions are made for us that we are not familiar with sterilization techniques! Once again, I think that USMLE wants to reassure us that this very specific exam is a matter of concepts rather than a matter of memorization...

Clostridium difficile belongs to the Clostridia species (big deal!!!) -- this self-evident information rings bells that we have an organism that produces mean endospores! Materials exposed to endospore-producing bacteria need to be AUTOCLAVED in order to be disinfected!!! An autoclave does exactly what D describes, i.e. dr. HouseWannabe is absolutely correct.

With this post I wanted to underline once again that memorization is not a very useful arrow in the USMLE quiver...

 

[mayeli]

I totally agree with ath.pantelis. In fact, a friend of mine took her test last moth and she had a question very similar to that one.

 

[Seetal]

thank u ath.pantelis

yep the answer is indeed D. think endospores and the only way to get rid of spores is by autoclave.

 

[Taayseer]

Thanks guys!