Reframing lung transplantation through a sustainability lens

Area of Science:

• Environmental sustainability in medicine
• Climate change adaptation in healthcare
• Organ transplantation research

Background:

• Lung transplantation is resource-intensive with an unmapped carbon footprint.
• Climate change poses direct and indirect risks to lung transplant recipients.
• There is a need to integrate sustainable practices into lung transplantation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore opportunities for sustainable practices in lung transplantation.
• To reduce the environmental impact of lung transplantation.
• To decrease recipient morbidity and mortality.

Main Methods:

• Review of published literature on climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies in healthcare.
• Identification of opportunities for "green chains" of transplant care.
• Analysis of peri-operative and post-transplant phases for decarbonisation.

Main Results:

• Strategies include optimizing recipient/donor selection, reducing anesthetic gas emissions, green procurement, and waste reduction.
• Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programs and telemedicine can reduce travel emissions.
• Sustainable practices can maximize operative success and avoid organ discard.

Conclusions:

• Coordinated adoption of low-carbon practices can reduce environmental harm and improve patient outcomes.
• Lung transplant recipients are particularly vulnerable to climate change.
• Transplant practitioners must foster environmental advocacy and implement targets for climate change and health indicators.