TY - JOUR
T1 - Perspectives on sustainability among surgeons
T2 - findings from the SAGES-EAES sustainability in surgical practice task force survey
AU - Sathe, Tejas S.
AU - Alseidi, Adnan
AU - Bellato, Vittoria
AU - Ganjouei, Amir Ashraf
AU - Foroutani, Laleh
AU - Hall, Ryan P.
AU - Potapov, Oleksii
AU - Bello, Ricardo J.
AU - Johnson, Shaneeta M.
AU - Marconi, Stefania
AU - Francis, Nader
AU - Barach, Paul
AU - Sanchez-Casalongue, Manuel
AU - Nijhawan, Sheetal
AU - Oslock, Wendelyn M.
AU - Miller, Benjamin
AU - Samreen, Sarah
AU - Chung, Jimmy
AU - Marfo, Nana
AU - Huo, Bright
AU - Lim, Robert B.
AU - Vandeberg, Jonathan
AU - Alimi, Yewande R.
AU - Pietrabissa, Andrea
AU - Arezzo, Alberto
AU - Frountzas, Maximos
AU - Rems, Miran
AU - Eussen, M. M. M.
AU - Bouvy, N. D.
AU - Sylla, Patricia
PY - 2024/8/1
Y1 - 2024/8/1
N2 - BackgroundSurgical care significantly contributes to healthcare-associated greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Surgeon attitudes about mitigation of the impact of surgical practice on environmental sustainability remains poorly understood. To better understand surgeon perspectives globally, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons and the European Association for Endoscopic Surgery established a joint Sustainability in Surgical Practice (SSP) Task Force and distributed a survey on sustainability.MethodsOur survey asked about (1) surgeon attitudes toward sustainability, (2) ability to estimate the carbon footprint of surgical procedures and supplies, (3) concerns about the negative impacts of sustainable interventions, (4) willingness to change specific practices, and (5) preferred educational topics and modalities. Questions were primarily written in Likert-scale format. A clustering analysis was performed to determine whether survey respondents could be grouped into distinct subsets to inform future outreach and education efforts.ResultsWe received 1024 responses, predominantly from North America and Europe. The study revealed that while 63% of respondents were motivated to enhance the sustainability of their practice, less than 10% could accurately estimate the carbon footprint of surgical activities. Most were not concerned that sustainability efforts would negatively impact their practice and showed readiness to adopt proposed sustainable practices. Online webinars and modules were the preferred educational methods. A clustering analysis identified a group particularly concerned yet willing to adopt sustainable changes.ConclusionSurgeons believe that operating room waste is a critical issue and are willing to change practice to improve it. However, there exists a gap in understanding the environmental impact of surgical procedures and supplies, and a sizable minority have some degree of concern about potential adverse consequences of implementing sustainable policies. This study uniquely provides an international, multidisciplinary snapshot of surgeons' attitudes, knowledge, concerns, willingness, and preferred educational modalities related to mitigating the environmental impact of surgical practice.
AB - BackgroundSurgical care significantly contributes to healthcare-associated greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). Surgeon attitudes about mitigation of the impact of surgical practice on environmental sustainability remains poorly understood. To better understand surgeon perspectives globally, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons and the European Association for Endoscopic Surgery established a joint Sustainability in Surgical Practice (SSP) Task Force and distributed a survey on sustainability.MethodsOur survey asked about (1) surgeon attitudes toward sustainability, (2) ability to estimate the carbon footprint of surgical procedures and supplies, (3) concerns about the negative impacts of sustainable interventions, (4) willingness to change specific practices, and (5) preferred educational topics and modalities. Questions were primarily written in Likert-scale format. A clustering analysis was performed to determine whether survey respondents could be grouped into distinct subsets to inform future outreach and education efforts.ResultsWe received 1024 responses, predominantly from North America and Europe. The study revealed that while 63% of respondents were motivated to enhance the sustainability of their practice, less than 10% could accurately estimate the carbon footprint of surgical activities. Most were not concerned that sustainability efforts would negatively impact their practice and showed readiness to adopt proposed sustainable practices. Online webinars and modules were the preferred educational methods. A clustering analysis identified a group particularly concerned yet willing to adopt sustainable changes.ConclusionSurgeons believe that operating room waste is a critical issue and are willing to change practice to improve it. However, there exists a gap in understanding the environmental impact of surgical procedures and supplies, and a sizable minority have some degree of concern about potential adverse consequences of implementing sustainable policies. This study uniquely provides an international, multidisciplinary snapshot of surgeons' attitudes, knowledge, concerns, willingness, and preferred educational modalities related to mitigating the environmental impact of surgical practice.
KW - Sustainability
KW - Operating room waste
KW - Decarbonization
KW - Climate change
KW - Carbon footprint
KW - Minimally invasive surgery
KW - CLIMATE-CHANGE
KW - IMPACT
U2 - 10.1007/s00464-024-11137-7
DO - 10.1007/s00464-024-11137-7
M3 - Article
SN - 0930-2794
JO - Surgical endoscopy and other interventional techniques
JF - Surgical endoscopy and other interventional techniques
ER -