一个新的术语：即用蒸汽灭菌（IUSS）
在美国，AAMI、AORN、APIC、IAHCSMM等组织建议将快速灭菌修改为“即用灭菌”。在上述几个组织发表的一份报告中专门描述了Immediate-Use Steam Sterilization（IUSS），先摘录一部分并给出大致中文翻译如下：
“Flash sterilization” has traditionally been used to describe steam sterilization cycles where unwrapped medical instruments are subjected to an abbreviated steam exposure time and then used promptly after cycle completion without being stored. This is in contrast to traditional “terminal sterilization” cycles, where instruments are sterilized within containers, wrappers, or primary packaging designed to maintain the instruments’ sterility and allow the devices to be stored for later use. The term “flash” arose out of the abbreviated time of exposure of the unwrapped device.（传统上，“快速灭菌”用于描述蒸汽灭菌周期，在此程序中，未包装的医疗器械经受缩短的蒸汽暴露时间，然后在周期完成后立即使用而不被储存。这与传统的“最终灭菌”周期相反，传统的“最终灭菌”周期是将器械置于硬质容器、包装纸或基本的包装中进行灭菌，以确保器械的无菌，并允许将灭菌后的器械储存以供以后使用。 术语“快速”意味着未包装器械灭菌时暴露时间的缩短）。
Today, however, “flash sterilization” is an antiquated term that does not fully describe the various steam sterilization cycles now used to process items not intended to be stored for later use. Current guidelines may require longer exposure times and/or the use of single wrappers or containers designed to allow for aseptic transfer of an item to the point of use. The term “immediate-use steam sterilization” more accurately reflects the current use of these processes. The same critical reprocessing steps (such as cleaning, decontaminating, and transporting sterilized items) must be followed regardless of the specific sterilization cycle employed; a safe process does not include short-cuts or work-arounds.（然而，现今，“快速灭菌”是一个过时的术语，它并不能完全描述当今用于处理不想存储以供以后使用的物品的各种蒸汽灭菌程序。 目前的指南可能要求更长的曝光时间和/或使用单个包装或硬质容器，以允许将物品无菌转移到使用地点。 术语“即用蒸汽灭菌”更准确地反映了目前这些灭菌程序的使用。不管采用哪种具体的灭菌周期，必须遵循相同的关键性的再处理步骤（如清洁，去污和运输无菌物品）；安全的程序并不包括快捷方式或绕过严密的流程来完成活动的解决方式）。
“Immediate use” is broadly defined as the shortest possible time between a sterilized item’s removal from the sterilizer and its aseptic transfer to the sterile field. Immediacy implies that a sterilized item is used during the procedure for which it was sterilized and in a manner that minimizes its exposure to air and other environmental contaminants. A sterilized item intended for immediate use is not stored for future use, nor held from one case to another. Immediacy, rather than being defined according to a specific time frame, is established through the critical analysis and expert collaboration of the health care team.（“立即使用”被广义地定义为被灭菌的物品从灭菌器移出且无菌转移到无菌使用地之间的最短时间。 即时，意味着灭菌的物品在其被使用中是无菌的，并且以使其最小化地暴露于空气和其它环境污染物的方式被使用。 用于立即使用的灭菌物品，不得存储以备将来使用；也不能从一种保持状况转换到另一种。即时性——不是根据具体时间框架定义的，而是通过医疗团队严苛的分析和专家协作建立起来的）。
