{"title":"Carbon Neutral Hand Surgery: Simple Changes to Reduce Carbon Footprint.","authors":"Yangmyung Ma, Seunghee Han","doi":"10.1177/22925503221088839","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><b>Introduction:</b> Rapid climate change poses a major challenge to healthcare. The operating room is especially responsible for carbon emission, with 20% to 70% of hospital waste traced back to the operating room. This literature review aims to suggest changes that can be made in hand surgery for a more sustainable practice. <b>Methods:</b> A literature search was conducted from PubMed, Medline, and other online search engines with the keywords \"carbon footprint, environmental health, carbon neutral, plastic surgery, hand surgery, surgery.\" <b>Results:</b> \"Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Research, Rethink and Culture\" was the framework used to recommend a more carbon neutral practice. In reduction, techniques such as cutting down oversupply of materials, adopting protocols to perform cases in ambulatory settings, and simple measures to reduce energy were identified as valuable methods. Modified sterilization techniques and reprocessing single-use devices were techniques identified for reuse and recycling involved single-stream recycling, staff training, and donation of basic surgical supplies. Research involved adopting data-driven programs for life cycle assessment of all equipment in the operating room, while the use of telemedicine and \"green meetings' were suggested for rethinking. Finally, strategies to encourage a team approach to environmental responsibility were discussed. <b>Conclusion:</b> Carbon neutral practice must be implemented to safeguard sustainable and cost-effective operating rooms and healthcare systems. Hand surgery can pave the way for other specialties through the use of available resources to develop guidelines for carbon neutral practice. This requires active effort from hand surgeons to act as role models for other healthcare professionals.</p>","PeriodicalId":20206,"journal":{"name":"Plastic surgery","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10902490/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Plastic surgery","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/22925503221088839","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2022/3/24 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"SURGERY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Rapid climate change poses a major challenge to healthcare. The operating room is especially responsible for carbon emission, with 20% to 70% of hospital waste traced back to the operating room. This literature review aims to suggest changes that can be made in hand surgery for a more sustainable practice. Methods: A literature search was conducted from PubMed, Medline, and other online search engines with the keywords "carbon footprint, environmental health, carbon neutral, plastic surgery, hand surgery, surgery." Results: "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Research, Rethink and Culture" was the framework used to recommend a more carbon neutral practice. In reduction, techniques such as cutting down oversupply of materials, adopting protocols to perform cases in ambulatory settings, and simple measures to reduce energy were identified as valuable methods. Modified sterilization techniques and reprocessing single-use devices were techniques identified for reuse and recycling involved single-stream recycling, staff training, and donation of basic surgical supplies. Research involved adopting data-driven programs for life cycle assessment of all equipment in the operating room, while the use of telemedicine and "green meetings' were suggested for rethinking. Finally, strategies to encourage a team approach to environmental responsibility were discussed. Conclusion: Carbon neutral practice must be implemented to safeguard sustainable and cost-effective operating rooms and healthcare systems. Hand surgery can pave the way for other specialties through the use of available resources to develop guidelines for carbon neutral practice. This requires active effort from hand surgeons to act as role models for other healthcare professionals.
期刊介绍:
Plastic Surgery (Chirurgie Plastique) is the official journal of the Canadian Society of Plastic Surgeons, the Canadian Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Group for the Advancement of Microsurgery, and the Canadian Society for Surgery of the Hand. It serves as a major venue for Canadian research, society guidelines, and continuing medical education.