The Environmental Impact of Open Versus Endoscopic Carpal Tunnel Release

Purpose The environmental impact of common ambulatory hand surgeries has been an area of growing interest in recent years. There were 2 objectives of this study: (1) to quantify the carbon footprint of carpal tunnel surgery and its principal driving components; and (2) to compare the carbon footprints of open carpal tunnel release (oCTR) and endoscopic carpalMethods We performed a life cycle assessment to quantify the environmental impacts of 2 surgical procedures: oCTR and eCTR. Patients were retrospectively identified by querying the eCTR procedures in 28 patients were included in the life cycle assessment. The boundaries of the life cycle assessment were the start and end times of the procedures. The environmental impacts were estimated using the carbon footprint, expressed in the equivalent mass of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere (kgCO2-eq). The facility-related, processing-related, solid waste-related, and total kgCO2-eq were calculated.Results The average carbon footprint of carpal tunnel release was 83.1 kgCO2-eq and was dominated by processing-related and facilities-related factors. The average carbon footprint of eCTR (106.5 kgCO2-eq) was significantly greater than that of oCTR (59.6 kgCO2-eq).Conclusions Endoscopic carpal tunnel release leaves a greater carbon footprint than oCTR, and its environmental impact is dominated by facility-related and central processing-related factors.(J Hand Surg Am. 2023;48(1):46-52. Copyright & COPY; 2023 by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand. All rights reserved.)Type of study/level of evidence Economic and Decision Analyses IV.

Automated summary

The purpose of this study is to quantify the carbon footprint of carpal tunnel release surgery and compare the carbon footprints of open and endoscopic procedures. The results show that endoscopic carpal tunnel release has a greater carbon footprint compared to open surgery, mainly due to facility and central processing factors.