How to calculate the carbon footprint of Total Hip Arthroplasty and Total Knee Arthroplasty

Whether people believe in climate change or not, government regulation is coming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in publicly traded companies and healthcare companies. The United States healthcare system is responsible for approximately 10% of carbon and air emissions of all greenhouse gas emissions produced annually with the transportation sector being number one. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2747470

To calculate the carbon footprint of a patient undergoing THA or TKA, there are essentially 5 things that need to be calculated.
1. Electrical usage in kw/h of the peri operative environment, including AC/heater/ventilation per cubic foot, anesthesia machine, anesthesia type, computers, batteries used during the case, OR lights

2. Electrical usage in kw/h of sterilization, wash and preparation of trays, expressed in per tray. This will vary per sterilization machine and size.
3. Solid waste and recycled waste in material type that in weight and emissions. This includes plastic syringes, needles, drapes, lap sponges, sterile wraps and any single use disposables. I have noticed subsequent papers, including most recent ones from Brigham and Australia may have used less precise measurements than the EPA calculations.
4. Electrical use and material use and waste to produce a single complete implant. This will vary based on polymethylmethacrylate use.
5. Electrical and emissions data on the medication involved during the surgery.

Once we understand this information, we can better learn how to effectively reduce these carbon footprints to improve our overall environmental impact. Our data will be available soon.