The reprocessing of medical products: from regulatory polices to operational practices

The number of technological resources used in health care interventions is growing and continually expanding with the introduction of new products and articles. Problems associated with the reutilization of medical products, both reusable and of single use, affect policies and related technical-operational, economic, political, ethical, legal, and environmental matters. This study aims to contextualize the regulatory systems of medical products, and analyze the subsequent operational implications for Brazilian hospital practices. The article consists of a bibliographic review, carried out without time and language restriction, utilizing the Web of Science, Bireme, Scielo and Lilacs databases, with the support of specific descriptors. This study uses the contextualization of regulatory plans for medical products across the world and in Brazil and the existing condition of standardization of the reprocessing of these products as the assessment sources with which to analyze the operational implications for these practices in Brazilian hospitals.