VA hospital in Colorado works to identify residue halting hundreds of surgeries

The Veterans Affairs hospital in Aurora is still working to identify a residue that has led to hundreds of surgical procedures being rescheduled. In May, CBS Colorado reported a mysterious residue was found on medical equipment. Officials say lab tests indicate the residue found is some kind of plastic.

 "This is not biological. It's not overly mysterious," explained Amir Farooqi, Interim Director of VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System. "The equipment we're talking about is very complicated sterilization equipment. There's lots of gears, lots of little pieces. It's believed that this could be coming from some plastic piece within it."

The residue was found during pre-surgery inspections. Farooqi commends staff for noticing this residue and immediately stopping the line. He says because of them, no patients were harmed.

"We have replaced piping, we have been replacing filters, replacing strainers, just about anything you can think of trying to hit this from every angle," said Farooqi. "Even though it's a plastic, we still won't take a chance. Patient safety has got to be number one always."

More than 400 surgical procedures have since been halted or rescheduled.

The VA is using disposable instruments for some procedures and working with community partners to help sterilize other items. Patients in need of surgeries that involve reusable medical equipment are being treated elsewhere.

"This is a very safe place. This is only impacting a fraction of our surgical procedures," said Farooqi. "A veteran may decide they would rather wait for VA. If it's clinically indicated that's okay, that's their decision, so long as it's not something urgent."

He says complex procedures like orthopedic and neurosurgery are most impacted.

The VA is still working to collect a larger sample of the residue to retest and finally knock out the problem.

"We're working to identify and pinpoint what exactly it is. What piece is it? Is it this knob? That's what we're really trying to do right now," said Farooqi. "We're trying to get all hands on deck to make sure that we get this where it needs to be, where the patient can feel comfortable and secure in the care they receive."