The Power of Education to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Volatile Anesthetics in Clinical Practice
Authors' conclusion
Educational measures for anesthesiologists about the climate-damaging effects of volatile anesthetics-especially desflurane-can significantly reduce CO 2 e emissions in anesthesia clinics.
Study context
- Population
- Anesthesiology departments at all 3 clinical Charité campuses, 2015 to 2023
- Exposure
- Before vs after educational measures on sustainability of volatile anesthetics (from September 2018)
- Outcome
- CO 2 e emissions of volatile anesthetics (sevoflurane, desflurane, isoflurane)
Methodological detailsbefore-after (pre-post educational intervention), run chart analysis, 3 campuses, External and internal (top-down or bottom-up) educational measures from September 2018
- Before-after (pre-post educational intervention)
- Run chart analysis
- 3 campuses
- External and internal (top-down or bottom-up) educational measures from September 2018
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
CO 2 e emissions of volatile anesthetics
CO 2 e emissions reduction from baseline epoch (2015-2017) to 2023
90.3%
CO 2 e, baseline (mean 2015-2017)
1470 tons
CO 2 e, 2022
191 tons
CO 2 e, 2023
142 tons
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Total cost of anesthetics
- Total cost, 2015
- €541,102/$594,238
- Total cost, 2023
- €281,646/$309,303
Original publication
The Power of Education to Reduce the Carbon Footprint of Volatile Anesthetics in Clinical Practice. Anesth Analg. Published 25 February 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →