Environmental impact of volatile anesthetics at a high complexity teaching hospital from 2019 to 2022: A quantitative analysis.

BACKGROUND

The healthcare sector emits 5% of greenhouse gases worldwide, inhaled anaesthetic agents have contributed to this effect for years. Other countries measured and limited their use, leading to positive environmental changes. There is a lack of data on Colombia. This project aims to evaluate the environmental impact of desflurane, isoflurane, and sevoflurane between 2019 and 2022 in a hospital in Bogota.

METHODS

A retrospective exploration of inhaled anaesthetic agents use was conducted using our hospital's pharmacy inventory between 2019 and 2022. ORACLE software tools were used, along with the amount of anaesthetics dispensed by the pharmacy. The CO equivalent was calculated in kilograms using the global warming potential at 20 and 100 years.

RESULTS

A total of 743 kg of inhaled anaesthetic agents was administered between 2019 and 2022. Sevoflurane accounted for 265.7 kg, Desflurane for 473.9 kg, while isoflurane was used in smaller quantities. There was a change in the trend between 2019/2020 and 2021/2022, with an increase of 69.3 kg in sevoflurane use and a decrease of 86.2 kg in desflurane use. The CO emissions from desflurane decreased from 190.7 to 131.9 t over 20 years and from 711 to 492 t over 100 years.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of sevoflurane increased by 70%, whereas that of desflurane decreased by 31%. CO emissions were reduced by 557 t in 20 years and 210 t in 100 years. The environmental impact of sevoflurane is 97% lower than desflurane in our OR's.