Stop throwing away your anesthesia circuits after each patient case in the operating room (OR). Help reduce waste with our multiple-patient-use circuits.
From climate change to pollution in our oceans, to devastation in our forests, the human footprint is huge, and strategies to reduce the impact are essential.
In healthcare, the generation of waste is a known problem. US hospitals produce more than 5.9 million tons of waste each year and 15% of this quantity is considered regulated medical waste (1).
Have you ever wondered where the red bin (biohazard) waste goes? The special handling and elimination of this type of waste costs 119% more than regular trash (2), which is a further drain on already tight health care budgets.
A recent customer survey of 12 healthcare professionals had all interviewees citing concerns about waste. Their concerns are justified as all the consumables used in close contact with the patient, such as surgical gowns, surgical consumables, gloves, and masks are replaced after every surgery to reduce the risk of cross contamination and infection.
Every day, in every OR in the US an average of four surgeries (3) are performed, and between 20% and 33% of total hospital waste is attributed to the operating room with 90% of it designated as hazardous material in the red bin (4). All the consumables are then either disposed of in a landfill or are incinerated, both of which have environmental impact.
So, what can we do to reduce the amount of waste generated in the OR daily?
One significant area of interest is anesthesia circuits. Many of the components are plastic (some examples given below) and are considered regulated medical waste:
- Circuit
- CO2 Gas Sampling Line
- Breathing Bag
- Mask
- Filter
We have an alternative to using the anesthesia circuits once and then disposing of them. The Ultipor™ 25 breathing System Filter and multiple-patient-use anesthesia circuits allow the circuit to be used repeatedly over a 24-hour period with a new mask and breathing system filter used for each patient to prevent cross contamination.
Additionally, these can help to improve efficiency by decreasing turnover times and reduce cost by using fewer circuits per day.
If you would like to hear more about how to reduce your anesthesia circuit waste with an FDA 510k registered solution or hear more about the clinical and economic impact our solution could offer, please contact us.
References
- All Points Medical Waste. How much waste does the healthcare industry produce? [Internet] Published: 2012 May 24. https://allpointsmedicalwaste.com/how-much-waste-does-the-healthcare-industry-produce/
- Practice Greenhealth. 2016 Sustainability Benchmark Report: A Practice Greenhealth Member Benefit. 2016. [Internet] https://practicegreenhealth.org/sites/default/files/upload-files/2016.practice.greenhealth.sustainability.benchmark.report.pdf
- Schuster M, Standl T, Wagner JA, Berger J, Reimann H, Schlute J Am Esch. Anesthesiology. 2004;101(6):1435–1443. doi:10.1097/00000542-200412000-00026.
- The Ohio State University College of Medicine. What's important: Operating room waste: Why we should care : JBJS. LWW. https://journals.lww.com/jbjsjournal/fulltext/2021/05050/what_s_important__operating_room_waste__why_we.13.aspx. Published May 5, 2021. Accessed February 21, 2023. DOI: 10.2106/JBJS.20.01816
Author bio
Enrique Vargas, Portfolio Manager — Breathing and Gas Filtration
Enrique currently works in marketing for our breathing and gas filtration products. He joined the company in 2017 and has held various positions in commercial management for the last 10 years, giving him the knowledge of the market, products, and costumers needs. Enrique holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biomedical Engineering from the Ibero-American University of Mexico.