Molly M. Herr , Rachel E. Outterson , Shreya Aggarwal
{"title":"Lost in the Ether: The Environmental Impact of Anesthesia","authors":"Molly M. Herr , Rachel E. Outterson , Shreya Aggarwal","doi":"10.1016/j.oto.2022.100997","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Health care systems contribute a significant amount of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and operating rooms are among the most resource intensive and waste producing locations in hospitals. Surgery's high environmental impact is due to many factors including: widespread use of anesthetic and medical gases; pharmaceutical production and waste; substantial non-recycled waste from disposable single-use devices; and energy consumption for equipment use and reprocessing, in addition to the significant energy needed for heating, cooling and ventilation of ORs. As the urgency of addressing global climate change increases, health care providers must do all they can to minimize the environmental impacts of health care in a sustainable, yet safe manner. Thoughtful management techniques by anesthesiologists, surgeons, and operating room staff before, during, and after procedures can minimize the environmental impact of surgery while maintaining cost-efficient, excellent patient care.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":45242,"journal":{"name":"Operative Techniques in Orthopaedics","volume":"32 4","pages":"Article 100997"},"PeriodicalIF":0.2000,"publicationDate":"2022-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Operative Techniques in Orthopaedics","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1048666622000568","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"ORTHOPEDICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
Health care systems contribute a significant amount of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and operating rooms are among the most resource intensive and waste producing locations in hospitals. Surgery's high environmental impact is due to many factors including: widespread use of anesthetic and medical gases; pharmaceutical production and waste; substantial non-recycled waste from disposable single-use devices; and energy consumption for equipment use and reprocessing, in addition to the significant energy needed for heating, cooling and ventilation of ORs. As the urgency of addressing global climate change increases, health care providers must do all they can to minimize the environmental impacts of health care in a sustainable, yet safe manner. Thoughtful management techniques by anesthesiologists, surgeons, and operating room staff before, during, and after procedures can minimize the environmental impact of surgery while maintaining cost-efficient, excellent patient care.
期刊介绍:
Operative Techniques in Orthopaedics is an innovative, richly illustrated resource that keeps practitioners informed of significant advances in all areas of surgical management. Each issue of this atlas-style journal explores a single topic, often offering alternate approaches to the same procedure. Its current, definitive information keeps readers in the forefront of their specialty.