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Surgery as climate change villain?
Here's another excess of our overly interventionist health care system: Enough anesthetic gas is used each year to contribute as much greenhouse gas as a million cars, according to new research. In a single surgery, you could accumulate up to 470 hypothetical driving miles while you're out cold.
The inhaled anaesthetics used in most ORs are fluranes, related to the gases that ate a hole in the ozone in the 1980s. Although they've been recognized as greenhouse gases, medical practitioners aren't required to report their use because each patient gets a relatively small amount and it's assumed to be medically necessary.
Of course, when one hears reports that back surgery isn't more effective than physical therapy and that many women get C-sections because doctors don't want to miss their tee times, one may wonder how many of those surgeries aren't truly necessary. And, in any case, medical practices shouldn't simply get a free pass when it comes to reducing waste and improving energy efficiency, as a growing green movement within the industry attests.
From a patient's perspective, there are a few things you can do to limit how much flurane you personally contribute to the atmosphere. First, take good care of yourself so you won't need surgery. Second, get a second opinion before you go under the knife. Third, try asking your anesthesiologist about potentially using a less greenhouse-gas intensive knock-out gas: Adjusting for how the anaesthetics are used, researchers calculated that desflurane has roughly 26 times the global warming potential as sevoflurane and 13 times that of of isoflurane. It's desflurane that tallies up 470 hypothetical driving miles. Even so, if the doctor says desflurane is the best option for your surgery, best take his or her word for it!
| January 06 2011 at 12:09 PM
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