Eco-responsibility in the operating theater: An urgent need for organizational transformation

Abstract

Factors associating environmental degradation with human health have shown that air pollution is a source of morbi-mortality throughout the world. Unfortunately, hospitals are themselves "silent polluters". As healthcare professionals, we are the guarantors not only of quality of patient care, but also of proper hospital conduct. The aim of this attempt at clarification is to outline what can be done in the operating theater to reduce the environmental impact of the treatments we administer. Our recommendations will go above and beyond regulatory frameworks and draw upon daily practice concerning waste management, energy consumption, utilization of anesthetic agents and multiple forms of waste. A number of French and international pilot experimentations have been carried out and could strongly contribute to the modification of clinical practices with a societal impact, at a time when ecology has become one of the main preoccupations of our fellow citizens.

Keywords: Ecology; Global warming; Operating theater; Waste.