Estimation of the Economic and Environmental Impact of Single-Use Instruments in Routine Cataract Surgery.

PURPOSE

To estimate the economic and environmental impact of single-use instruments (SUIs) to perform standard cataract surgery in six ophthalmology centers located in Europe and in the United States.

SETTING

Online survey and interview.

DESIGN

Comparative cost analysis based on an online survey with follow-up questionnaire and interview. The carbon footprint calculation was made by ClimatePartner.

METHODS

Annual costs of reusable instruments (RUIs) were calculated based on data provided by the centers. Annual costs of SUIs were estimated based on the average-selling price of a single-use cataract set of 5 instruments and the reported annual volume of cataract surgery. The calculation carbon footprint of a cataract instrument covered the whole life cycle from production to end-of-life.

RESULTS

Annual costs for SUIs were found inferior or similar to the annual costs for RUIs for 4 out of the 6 centers included in this study. The centers where SUIs were demonstrated to be the most cost-effective were also associated with the highest costs of sterilization per instrument. The carbon footprint of 5-years usage of a cataract instrument was found to be 5478.2 kg CO for SUIs without recycling, 4639.9 kg CO for SUIs with recycling and 20.6 kg CO for RUIs.

CONCLUSION

The study demonstrated that SUIs can be an alternative solution to using RUIs in multispecialty hospitals associated with high sterilization costs.