Perioperative Care

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Overview
Introduction
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Supporting Resources

Introduction

Perioperative care plays a vital role in healthcare delivery, yet it is also a notable source of environmental impact. Unnecessary interventions, high-emission anesthetic gases, reliance on single-use devices, and poor waste management all increase the carbon footprint of surgical care. Reducing avoidable interventions and lowering the environmental impact of necessary care can improve both system efficiency and patient outcomes while supporting climate resilience.

Opportunities for more sustainable perioperative care generally fall into four key areas. Minimizing unnecessary care, such as low-value tests or procedures, can reduce emissions and costs without compromising outcomes. Addressing direct emissions, particularly through more sustainable anesthesia practices, offers significant potential for carbon reduction. Transitioning from single-use items to safe, reusable alternatives can decrease waste generation and resource use. Finally, improving waste segregation and management ensures that materials are processed appropriately minimizes resource-intensive processing and avoids unnecessary environmental burden.

Advancing sustainability in perioperative settings requires thoughtful implementation. Education and awareness help drive behavior change, while supportive infrastructure and procurement practices make sustainable choices more accessible. Integrating these efforts into clinical workflows and aligning them with evidence-based standards can enable meaningful, lasting improvements.

Playbook: Sustainable Perioperative Care

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Suggested Citation:

Simms N, Devitt K, Irani C, Khan N, Meng F. Sustainable Perioperative Care. Version 1.1. [Internet]. CASCADES; 2023 [cited DATE]. Available from: https://cascadescanada.ca/.

Playbook: Regional Anesthesia in Breast Surgery

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Suggested Citation:

MacNeill, A, McAtee, A. Sustainable Anesthesia for Breast Surgery. Version 1.1. [Internet]. CASCADES; 2023 [cited DATE]. Available from: https://cascadescanada.ca/.

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Dashboard: Sustainable Perioperative Care Dashboard

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Scorecard: Sustainable Perioperative Care Scorecard

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Supporting Resources

CASCADES Quality Improvement

CASCADES

Evidence-based ready-to-use planning documents with project goal, scope, problem/opportunity statement, current state, root causeanalysis, change ideas, potential metrics, and strategies for embedding and spreading.

Project Charter

Unseen Vectors & the Sterile Truth: Rethinking Infection Control for the Anesthesiologist

Ontario’s Anesthesiologists

Webinar

Surgical Tray Optimization

CASCADES

Project Charter

Resident Quality Improvement (QI): Perioperative Opportunities for Healthcare Residents Primer

CASCADES

Residents have the unique combination of clinical knowledge and leadership ability, as well as exposure to a variety of practice settings during their training, to bring about positive change in the perioperative space. If you want to make a change in your center, or are curious about what opportunities exist, check out these five simple steps to significantly reduce your professional carbon footprint.

Primer

Greening the OR: Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society Position Statement on Reducing Harmful Emissions, Waste and Costs

La Société canadienne des anesthésiologistes (CAS) est fermement convaincue que tous les efforts doivent être déployés pour réduire l’impact du secteur de la santé sur l’environnement tout en améliorant la qualité des soins. La CAS a identifié des domaines clés dans lesquels des changements pourraient apporter des améliorations directes en matière de réduction des émissions nocives et des déchets.

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