Paving the way to environment-friendly greener anesthesia
Health-care settings have an important responsibility toward environmental health and safety. The operating room is a major source of environmental pollution within a hospital. Inhalational agents and nitrous oxide are the commonly used gases during general anesthesia for surgeries, especially in th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/joacp.joacp_283_22 |
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| author | Lal Dhar Mishra Ankit Agarwal Atul K. Singh Kamath Sriganesh |
| author_facet | Lal Dhar Mishra Ankit Agarwal Atul K. Singh Kamath Sriganesh |
| author_sort | Lal Dhar Mishra |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Health-care settings have an important responsibility toward environmental health and safety. The operating room is a major source of environmental pollution within a hospital. Inhalational agents and nitrous oxide are the commonly used gases during general anesthesia for surgeries, especially in the developing world. These greenhouse gases contribute adversely to the environmental health both inside the operating room and in the outside atmosphere. Impact of these anesthetic agents depends on the total consumption, characteristics of individual agents, and gas flows, with higher levels increasing the environmental adverse effects. The inimical impact of nitrous oxide is higher due to its longer atmospheric half-life and potential for destruction of the ozone layer. Anesthesiologist of today has a choice in the selection of anesthetic agents. Prudent decisions will help in mitigating environmental pollution and contributing positively to a greener planet. Therefore, a shift from inhalational to intravenous-based technique will reduce the carbon footprint of anesthetic agents and their impact on global climate. Propofol forms the mainstay of intravenous anesthesia technique and is a proven drug for anesthetic induction and maintenance. Anesthesiologists should appreciate growing concerns about the role of inhalational anesthetics on the environment and join the cause of environmental responsibility. In this narrative review, we revisit the pharmacological and pharmacokinetic considerations, clinical uses, and discuss the merits of propofol-based intravenous anesthesia over inhalational anesthesia in terms of environmental effects. Increased awareness about the environmental impact and adoption of newer, versatile, and user-friendly modalities of intravenous anesthesia administration will pave the way for greener anesthesia practice. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a09f7a6b26ff4b8fad1d17ed76522eb7 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0970-9185 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology |
| spelling | doaj-art-a09f7a6b26ff4b8fad1d17ed76522eb72024-12-17T06:56:33ZengWolters Kluwer Medknow PublicationsJournal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology0970-91852024-01-0140191410.4103/joacp.joacp_283_22Paving the way to environment-friendly greener anesthesiaLal Dhar MishraAnkit AgarwalAtul K. SinghKamath SriganeshHealth-care settings have an important responsibility toward environmental health and safety. The operating room is a major source of environmental pollution within a hospital. Inhalational agents and nitrous oxide are the commonly used gases during general anesthesia for surgeries, especially in the developing world. These greenhouse gases contribute adversely to the environmental health both inside the operating room and in the outside atmosphere. Impact of these anesthetic agents depends on the total consumption, characteristics of individual agents, and gas flows, with higher levels increasing the environmental adverse effects. The inimical impact of nitrous oxide is higher due to its longer atmospheric half-life and potential for destruction of the ozone layer. Anesthesiologist of today has a choice in the selection of anesthetic agents. Prudent decisions will help in mitigating environmental pollution and contributing positively to a greener planet. Therefore, a shift from inhalational to intravenous-based technique will reduce the carbon footprint of anesthetic agents and their impact on global climate. Propofol forms the mainstay of intravenous anesthesia technique and is a proven drug for anesthetic induction and maintenance. Anesthesiologists should appreciate growing concerns about the role of inhalational anesthetics on the environment and join the cause of environmental responsibility. In this narrative review, we revisit the pharmacological and pharmacokinetic considerations, clinical uses, and discuss the merits of propofol-based intravenous anesthesia over inhalational anesthesia in terms of environmental effects. Increased awareness about the environmental impact and adoption of newer, versatile, and user-friendly modalities of intravenous anesthesia administration will pave the way for greener anesthesia practice.https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/joacp.joacp_283_22anesthesiaenvironmental pollutiongreenhouse gashealth carepropofol |
| spellingShingle | Lal Dhar Mishra Ankit Agarwal Atul K. Singh Kamath Sriganesh Paving the way to environment-friendly greener anesthesia Journal of Anaesthesiology Clinical Pharmacology anesthesia environmental pollution greenhouse gas health care propofol |
| title | Paving the way to environment-friendly greener anesthesia |
| title_full | Paving the way to environment-friendly greener anesthesia |
| title_fullStr | Paving the way to environment-friendly greener anesthesia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Paving the way to environment-friendly greener anesthesia |
| title_short | Paving the way to environment-friendly greener anesthesia |
| title_sort | paving the way to environment friendly greener anesthesia |
| topic | anesthesia environmental pollution greenhouse gas health care propofol |
| url | https://journals.lww.com/10.4103/joacp.joacp_283_22 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT laldharmishra pavingthewaytoenvironmentfriendlygreeneranesthesia AT ankitagarwal pavingthewaytoenvironmentfriendlygreeneranesthesia AT atulksingh pavingthewaytoenvironmentfriendlygreeneranesthesia AT kamathsriganesh pavingthewaytoenvironmentfriendlygreeneranesthesia |