Life Cycle Assessment of Different Types of Anesthetic

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Carbon Footprint in Anesthetic
• Interventions: Other: General anesthetic; Other: Combined general anesthetic and regional anesthetic; Other: Regional anesthetic

• Registration Number: NCT05385367
• Lead Sponsor: University of Alberta

Brief Summary

Following Ethics approval, all adult patients undergoing surgery to fix the wrist fracture will be approached and consent to undergo this study. The amount of waste generated from general anesthetic, regional anesthetic and regional+general anesthetic will be collected and weighed.

Patients undergoing this type of wrist surgery have only regional anesthetic, or general anesthetic, or both ie. regional anesthetic and general anesthetic.

The aim of the study is to compare the amount of waste generated from each type of anesthetic and this will give us a better idea of which anesthetic is more environmentally sustainable.

Detailed Description

Following Ethics approval, all adult patients undergoing surgery to fix the wrist fracture will be approached and consent to undergo this study. The amount of waste generated from general anesthetic, regional anesthetic and regional+general anesthetic will be collected and weighed. Waste will include disposable and reusable wastes. Examples of disposable waste are all plastic packaging, syringes, needles, breathing tube, breathing circuits, gloves as well as drugs. Examples of reusable waste will be anesthetic face mask, laryngeal mask (which is a form of airway device that can be reprocessed), sterile gowns. The amount of anesthetic gas used will be obtained from the anesthetic machine.

Patients undergoing this type of wrist surgery have only regional anesthetic (freezing performed higher up in the arm to numb the whole arm for several hours), or general anesthetic (patient completely goes to deep anesthetic sleep), or both ie. regional anesthetic (freezing just for pain control afterwards) and general anesthetic (patient goes to deep anesthetic sleep after the freezing is done and they may need less pain killer during the surgery as well as afterwards).

The amount of waste generated will be compared amongst these 3 groups by life cycle analysis.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2022-05-11
• Study First Submitted QC: 2022-05-17
• Study First Posted: 2022-05-23
• Study Start: 2022-08-02
• Status Verified: 2025-01
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-01-28
• Last Update Posted: 2025-01-29
• Primary Completion: 2026-12-31
• Study Completion: 2026-12-31

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 90

Inclusion Criteria

• All adult patients undergoing open reduction and internal fixation of wrist
• ASA 1-3

Exclusion Criteria

• no contraindications for general anesthetic in the group for general anesthetic and vice versa

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
General anesthetic	General anesthetic	Patients only have general anesthetic
Combined general anesthetic and regional anesthetic	Combined general anesthetic and regional anesthetic	Patients have both general anesthetic and regional anesthetic together
Regional anesthetic	Regional anesthetic	Patients only have nerve block with or without sedation

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Carbon dioxide emission	During surgical intervention	Amount of carbon dioxide emission

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Duration of surgery	During surgical intervention	Duration of surgery
Generation of solid waste	During surgical intervention	Solid waste generated within the type of anesthetic

Trial Locations

Locations (2)

Sturgeon Community Hospital; 🇨🇦 St. Albert, Alberta, Canada

University of Alberta Hospital; 🇨🇦 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada