Norfolk, Va.-based Sentara Health has largely phased out its use of desflurane in anesthesia, according to a July 25 WHRO News report.
Desflurane is a greenhouse gas used for anesthesia. It became popular in the early 1990s due to its stability at a molecular level, according to Holly Mason, MD, an anesthesiologist at Sentara's Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, Va.
Sentara also said in the report that it has cut its emissions over the past five years from more than a million kilograms to less than 100,000.
About 5% of desflurane stays in a patient's body when they inhale it before surgery. The rest is emitted into the environment, where it can remain in the atmosphere for years. Desflurane traps heat in the atmosphere at a rate 2,000 greater than carbon dioxide. The healthcare industry accounts for about 8.5% of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
Earlier this year, Sentara hired their first-ever sustainability director in an effort to cut down on the system's climate pollution. Anesthesiologists have turned to other techniques in place of using the gas, such as intravenous anesthetics and more regional anesthesia. Physicians may still use desflurane in a small number of circumstances, such as when patients need to wake up quickly after a procedure.