EXAMINING THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF VASCULAR SURGERY: A 12-MONTH SINGLE INSTITUTION REVIEW kcasey@sbvascularspecialists.com

465-08

EXAMINING THE CARBON FOOTPRINT OF VASCULAR SURGERY: A 12-MONTH SINGLE INSTITUTION REVIEW

5

United States

Oral only

The modern Operating Room (OR) is responsible for creating an overwhelming amount of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, the main driver of global warming. There is a dearth of information regarding the true impact from vascular procedures on climate change.

A retrospective review was performed of all vascular procedures from a single institutional OR during a twelve-month period. OR waste was divided into disposable, biohazard, and recycling. GHG emissions were calculated based on established historical measurements.

A total of 776 procedures were performed. Of these, 686 procedures met criteria for analysis: 285 (42%) endovascular procedures (EPs), 311 (45%) open procedures (OPs) and 90 (13%) hybrid procedures (HPs). A total of 6104.3 kg of waste was produced over the 12-month study period. Of this, 4,449.3 kg was disposable waste, 1,011 kg was biohazard waste and 643.3 was recyclables. An average of 8.2 kg of waste was produced per procedure. HPs created more mean waste (11.2 kg) than EPs (8.0 kg) or OPs (7.5 kg). HPs also produced more biohazard waste (2.6 kg) than EPs (1.3 kg) or OPs (1.0 kg).

The estimated annual CO2 emissions produced from one vascular division was equivalent to driving 500 gasoline powered automobiles across the country twice. This should be a call to action for the surgical community to take the lead on addressing the Healthcare sector’s contributions to the climate crisis.