Interventions for sustainable surgery: a systematic review

Area of Science:

• Environmental science
• Healthcare sustainability
• Surgical practice optimization

Background:

• Surgery is a major contributor to healthcare emissions due to high resource and energy consumption.
• Interventions are being developed to mitigate surgery's environmental impact.
• Limited comparative data exists on the environmental and financial effects of these surgical sustainability interventions.

Approach:

• Systematic review of studies published up to February 2, 2022, on surgical sustainability interventions.
• Excluded articles solely focused on anesthetic agents' environmental impact.
• Extracted and assessed environmental and financial outcome data.

Key Points:

• Twenty-five interventions across five domains were identified in 21 studies.
• Reusable devices demonstrated 40-66% lower emissions than single-use alternatives in some cases.
• The cost per use for reusable equipment was 47-83% of single-use equivalents, though sterilization energy can offset benefits.

Conclusions:

• The range of interventions for surgical sustainability is currently limited, with a focus on reusable equipment.
• Data on emissions and costs are sparse, and long-term impacts are seldom studied.
• Real-world assessments and understanding the influence of sustainability on surgical decisions are crucial for implementation.