Eco-Friendly and COVID-19 Friendly? Decreasing the Carbon Footprint of the Operating Room in the COVID-19 Era
Surgery is one of the most energy-intensive branches of healthcare. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced surgical volumes, infection control protocols have increased the ecological footprint of surgery owing to the extensive use of personal protective equipment, sanitation, testing and isolati...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Diseases |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9721/11/4/157 |
| _version_ | 1797381419420352512 |
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| author | Christos Tsagkaris Hamayle Saeed Lily Laubscher Anna Eleftheriades Sofoklis Stavros Eirini Drakaki Anastasios Potiris Dimitrios Panagiotopoulos Dimos Sioutis Periklis Panagopoulos Ahsan Zil-E-Ali |
| author_facet | Christos Tsagkaris Hamayle Saeed Lily Laubscher Anna Eleftheriades Sofoklis Stavros Eirini Drakaki Anastasios Potiris Dimitrios Panagiotopoulos Dimos Sioutis Periklis Panagopoulos Ahsan Zil-E-Ali |
| author_sort | Christos Tsagkaris |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Surgery is one of the most energy-intensive branches of healthcare. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced surgical volumes, infection control protocols have increased the ecological footprint of surgery owing to the extensive use of personal protective equipment, sanitation, testing and isolation resources. The burden of environmental diseases requiring surgical care, the international commitment towards environmental sustainability and the global efforts to return to the pre-pandemic surgical workflow call for action towards climate-friendly surgery. The authors have searched the peer-reviewed and gray literature for clinical studies, reports and guidelines related to the ecological footprint of surgical care and the available solutions and frameworks to reduce it. Numerous studies concede that surgery is associated with a high rate of energy utilization and waste generation that is comparable to major non-medical sources of pollution. Recommendations and research questions outlining environmentally sustainable models of surgical practices span from sanitation and air quality improvement systems to the allocation of non-recyclable consumables and energy-efficient surgical planning. The latter are particularly relevant to infection control protocols for COVID-19. Paving the way towards climate-friendly surgery is a worthy endeavor with a major potential to improve surgical practice and outcomes in the long term. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:51:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e6d1fd2b22d343da9a0f335e40f9bc49 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-9721 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T20:51:12Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Diseases |
| spelling | doaj.art-e6d1fd2b22d343da9a0f335e40f9bc492023-12-22T14:03:34ZengMDPI AGDiseases2079-97212023-11-0111415710.3390/diseases11040157Eco-Friendly and COVID-19 Friendly? Decreasing the Carbon Footprint of the Operating Room in the COVID-19 EraChristos Tsagkaris0Hamayle Saeed1Lily Laubscher2Anna Eleftheriades3Sofoklis Stavros4Eirini Drakaki5Anastasios Potiris6Dimitrios Panagiotopoulos7Dimos Sioutis8Periklis Panagopoulos9Ahsan Zil-E-Ali10Public Health and Policy Working Group, Stg European Student Think Tank, Postjeskade 29, 1058 DE Amsterdam, The NetherlandsFatima Memorial Hospital College of Medicine & Dentistry, Lahore 54000, PakistanDepartment of Health Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, 8092 Zurich, SwitzerlandFaculty of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 115 27 Athens, Greece3rd Department of Ob/Gyn, Attikon University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 124 62 Athens, Greece3rd Department of Ob/Gyn, Attikon University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 124 62 Athens, Greece3rd Department of Ob/Gyn, Attikon University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 124 62 Athens, Greece3rd Department of Ob/Gyn, Attikon University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 124 62 Athens, Greece3rd Department of Ob/Gyn, Attikon University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 124 62 Athens, Greece3rd Department of Ob/Gyn, Attikon University Hospital, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 124 62 Athens, GreeceDepartment of Heart and Vascular Institute, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA 17033, USASurgery is one of the most energy-intensive branches of healthcare. Although the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced surgical volumes, infection control protocols have increased the ecological footprint of surgery owing to the extensive use of personal protective equipment, sanitation, testing and isolation resources. The burden of environmental diseases requiring surgical care, the international commitment towards environmental sustainability and the global efforts to return to the pre-pandemic surgical workflow call for action towards climate-friendly surgery. The authors have searched the peer-reviewed and gray literature for clinical studies, reports and guidelines related to the ecological footprint of surgical care and the available solutions and frameworks to reduce it. Numerous studies concede that surgery is associated with a high rate of energy utilization and waste generation that is comparable to major non-medical sources of pollution. Recommendations and research questions outlining environmentally sustainable models of surgical practices span from sanitation and air quality improvement systems to the allocation of non-recyclable consumables and energy-efficient surgical planning. The latter are particularly relevant to infection control protocols for COVID-19. Paving the way towards climate-friendly surgery is a worthy endeavor with a major potential to improve surgical practice and outcomes in the long term.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9721/11/4/157climate changeenvironmental sustainabilitypandemic preparednesssurgerySARS-CoV-2 |
| spellingShingle | Christos Tsagkaris Hamayle Saeed Lily Laubscher Anna Eleftheriades Sofoklis Stavros Eirini Drakaki Anastasios Potiris Dimitrios Panagiotopoulos Dimos Sioutis Periklis Panagopoulos Ahsan Zil-E-Ali Eco-Friendly and COVID-19 Friendly? Decreasing the Carbon Footprint of the Operating Room in the COVID-19 Era Diseases climate change environmental sustainability pandemic preparedness surgery SARS-CoV-2 |
| title | Eco-Friendly and COVID-19 Friendly? Decreasing the Carbon Footprint of the Operating Room in the COVID-19 Era |
| title_full | Eco-Friendly and COVID-19 Friendly? Decreasing the Carbon Footprint of the Operating Room in the COVID-19 Era |
| title_fullStr | Eco-Friendly and COVID-19 Friendly? Decreasing the Carbon Footprint of the Operating Room in the COVID-19 Era |
| title_full_unstemmed | Eco-Friendly and COVID-19 Friendly? Decreasing the Carbon Footprint of the Operating Room in the COVID-19 Era |
| title_short | Eco-Friendly and COVID-19 Friendly? Decreasing the Carbon Footprint of the Operating Room in the COVID-19 Era |
| title_sort | eco friendly and covid 19 friendly decreasing the carbon footprint of the operating room in the covid 19 era |
| topic | climate change environmental sustainability pandemic preparedness surgery SARS-CoV-2 |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9721/11/4/157 |
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