The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center successfully reduced its use of desflurane, an anesthetic gas commonly used in operating rooms, during fiscal year 2020. Desflurane is particularly harmful to the environment, having 10 times the global warming impact as sevoflurane, another anesthetic gas. Overall, the medical center’s greenhouse gas emissions associated with anesthetic gases have gone down 46% since beginning this program, and because desflurane is the most expensive anesthetic gas, the organization also achieved a cost savings of approximately $185,000.
These savings were achieved with the support of a small $5,000 investment from a larger $30,000 Ohio State Sustainability Fund grant. The remaining $25,000 from the grant will enable the medical center to continue related anesthetic gas emissions research, collect clean sterilization wrap to divert it from the waste stream for other uses, and replace single-use patient belonging bags with reusable containers.
The program began in August 2019, when members of the Greening the OR Task Force at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center hosted a Grand Rounds presentation by Timothy Del Rosario, M.D., instructor of anesthesiology, on mitigation of anesthetic gas waste. He highlighted the latest innovations that have been implemented at similar institutions.
Del Rosario also shared the results from an initial study conducted (in fiscal year 2019) at the medical center in collaboration with The Ohio State University College of Engineering. This study focused on measuring the occupational exposure of anesthetic gases, which used battery-powered sampling pumps and gas chromatography (passing vapors through a medium, which separates the gases from the air as they move at different rates). The results of this study will serve as the baseline to measure the performance of future improvement projects.
In February 2020, the medical center’s Greening the OR Task Force also completed a quality improvement pilot in collaboration with The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Led by anesthesiology resident Radhika Chalasani, M.D., the project entailed an infographic, designed to provide guidance on reducing waste related to anesthetic gases, which was attached to the anesthesia machines in the Same Day Surgery operating rooms. The project received an Advanced Health Systems Sciences Quality Improvement Poster Award in the College of Medicine.
Prior to COVID-19, the Task Force had begun work on a follow-up study with the College of Engineering. This project is currently on hold and will resume when the time is appropriate.
Story from Wexner Medical Center Marketing & Strategic Communications