Green is the new gold: a systematic review of the environmental impact of urological procedures, telehealth, and conferences

Background

The healthcare industry contributes nearly 5% of worldwide carbon emissions. In an effort to mitigate this impact, urology practices can take steps to reduce their carbon footprints. We conducted a systematic review which aimed to summarise the current literature on the environmental impact of urologic-related care.

Methods

A systematic literature review evaluating the impact of urologic procedures, telehealth and conferences/interviews was conducted on PubMed and Cochrane databases using a Boolean search strategy and the following search terms: urology, planetary health, environmental impact, carbon emissions, carbon footprint, and waste. Full-text articles published in English were included and reviewed by two independent reviewers. The studies were grouped into three categories: surgical/procedural, telehealth, and conference/interview travel.

Results

The initial search yielded 318 studies, of which 62 full-text manuscripts were reviewed. Of these, 22 studies met criteria for our systematic review: 13 surgical/procedural, 5 telehealth, 4 conference/interview travel. Most surgical/procedural studies compared the carbon footprint of flexible cystoscopy vs. disposable cystoscopy and found that disposable cystoscopy had a favourable environmental impact. The telehealth and conference/interview articles concluded that virtual settings significantly reduced environmental impact.

Conclusions

An increasing body of literature has evaluated the impact of urologic care on planetary health and demonstrated opportunities to minimise our carbon footprint. Incorporating changes to common procedures and considering virtual formats for clinics, conferences, and interviews—even in part-confers environmental benefits. Efforts to adopt greener and more sustainable practices in urology are necessary to mitigate the threat to planetary health.