Nitrous oxide is a useful inhaled analgesic. Due to its high global warming potential and ozone-depleting properties, the nitrous oxide emissions related to health care are being increasingly scrutinized. In this narrative review, we will discuss the clinical uses of nitrous oxide relevant to anesthetists, [...]
Clinical activity accounts for 70–80% of the carbon footprint of healthcare. A critical component of reducing emissions is shifting clinical behaviour towards reducing, avoiding, or replacing carbon-intensive healthcare. The objective of this systematic review was to find, map and assess behaviour change interventions that have [...]
The stewardship of networks, strategic target selection, adoption of communications best practices, and development of compassionate team environments can help the health community learn to treat the climate crisis together. A coordinated approach has the potential to shift practice, finance, and power to transform the [...]
Pharmaceutical waste is an important and growing environmental concern. Many drugs have been detected in significant concentrations in waterways, and they are likely to be particularly harmful when "constantly introduced to aquatic ecosystems," such as drugs inappropriately discarded on a daily basis. Environmental contamination with [...]
Health care has significant environmental impact. We performed a scoping review to map what is known about the environmental impact of health care for musculoskeletal conditions.
We must guide civilisation safely through the bottleneck of climate change and species mass extinction, driven by the twin challenges of over-consumption and over-population. Yet guiding this sustainability journey requires enlightenment about our individual and communal carbon footprints from health care. As an outsider to [...]
A radical and immediate engagement of all healthcare staff, particularly those who work in the ICU is necessary to join the race to zero carbon emissions. The following aspects will be crucial: prevention of chronic and acute (e.g. Pandemic) diseases to decrease the need for [...]
Providing anaesthesia for approximately 310 million surgical procedures worldwide every year, and contributing to peri-operative medicine, critical care, and pain management, generates emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and vast amounts of waste. In this paper, we suggest ways that anaesthesia teams can mitigate their environmental [...]
In this era of ‘Choosing Wisely,’ we present a four-step action plan to reduce unnecessary pathology testing and the associated patient harm (blood loss through repeated phlebotomy), economic cost and environmental impact. The authors are experts from the CODA group; a medical education and health-promotion charity that [...]
Within health care, the carbon footprint of hemodialysis (HD) appears to be particularly high, due to both a high use of energy, water, and consumables, and the repeated nature of dialysis treatments. However, studies quantifying this carbon effect are sparse.