UK doctors remove cancer from patient in sustainable surgery

More than a year after the UK’s Royal College of Surgeons published its ‘Sustainability Strategy in Surgery’, experts from the University of Birmingham have performed the first documented sustainable operation. This means that the amount of greenhouse gases produced in the activity is less than the amount removed from the atmosphere.

The surgery, carried out in May through England’s National Health Service (NHS), was performed at Solihull Hospital in the West Midlands city and was done in the “keyhole” type (with smaller incisions). The patient with bowel cancer has been safely discharged and is recovering.

a surgical team led by @aneelbhangurecently made its first ‘net zero’ transaction on the NHS @SolihullUHB.

Consultant Anesthesiologist Catriona Frankling told us about her hopes for the future of green surgery across the NHS.

The full story is here: https://t.co/Ykqf7RVqs1 pic.twitter.com/sasFmU0AN0

— University Hospitals Birmingham (@uhbtrust) 25 May 2022

How was sustainable surgery performed?

Reducing the environmental impact of the procedure, the surgery brought a few changes to the team’s routine. Approaches were recorded using a carbon production calculator developed by experts at the University of Birmingham to validate the idea (proof of concept).

The following changes have been made to the standard procedures:

• Use of reusable gowns, curtains and bonnets;
• Replacement of anesthetic gases with intravenous drugs;
• Plan to reduce electricity use, including heating and lighting;
• Recycling of disposable equipment used in surgery;
• Recycling of ‘clean’ paper and plastic waste;
• Pack the equipment separately, unpack only the absolutely necessary items;
• One of the surgeons rushed to the hospital, and the other by bicycle.

After the surgical procedure was completed, the team used the calculator and showed an almost 80% reduction in carbon productioncompared to that produced routinely.

Various carbon offset projects were developed to achieve the goal, such as planting trees on the Solihull Hospital grounds. Other such surgeries should be done soon, according to the University of Birmingham.