Innovations towards achieving environmentally sustainable operating theatres: A systematic review

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Healthcare Sustainability
• Surgical Operations

Background:

• The National Health Service (NHS) contributes significantly to the UK's carbon footprint.
• Perioperative environments are highly resource-intensive within hospitals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review interventions enhancing perioperative environmental sustainability.
• To assess the impact of implemented sustainability initiatives in operating theatres.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of literature.
• Searches conducted across major databases (PubMed, OVID, Embase, Cochrane, Medline).
• Inclusion of original manuscripts detailing operating theatre sustainability interventions.

Main Results:

• 34 manuscripts were included after screening 675 abstracts.
• Interventions covered waste management, reduction, reuse, life cycle analysis, energy efficiency, and anaesthetic gases.
• Identified interventions and their effects on theatre sustainability were summarized.

Conclusions:

• Effective, straightforward interventions exist to boost operating theatre environmental sustainability.
• A combined approach to implementing these interventions can synergistically reduce surgery's environmental footprint.