PhD defence Myrthe Mathijs Maria Eussen

Keywords: Sustainability, Operating room, Surgery, Environmental impact

"Strategies to minimize the environmental impact of surgery from reveal to reuse"

This thesis investigates how surgical care can become more environmentally sustainable. Healthcare contributes substantially to climate change, and operating rooms generate large amounts of waste, mainly due to disposable products that are discarded after one use. Reusable instruments offer an alternative; although they must be cleaned after use, they can be reused multiple times and may therefore be more sustainable.

The thesis examines what is known about the environmental impact of surgery and how this can be measured, for example in terms of carbon emissions. It also explores how surgeons think about sustainability and which factors influence their choice of instruments, such as training and workflow. It further studies how surgical instrument sets can be reduced and evaluates the shift to reusable instruments, including their environmental impact, costs, and safety.

Overall, this thesis shows that reducing surgical instrument sets and using reusable instruments can make surgical procedures more sustainable, often at lower cost.

Click here for the full dissertation. 

Click here for the live stream.