Posted on 06/17/2020 12:44:41 PM PDT by qam1
Using local instead of general anaesthetic for hip, knee and other operations could help cut greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study.
Drugs used for general anaesthetics contain greenhouse gases such as nitrous oxide, which can stay in the atmosphere for up to 114 years and contribute to global warming.
Switching the one million annual hip and knee replacement operations in the United States to local anaesthetic would save the equivalent of 7.3 million miles driven in a car, according to the study, which was based on a one-year experiment at a hospital in New York and published in the journal Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine.
Surgeons at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York carried out 96 per cent of their hip and knee replacements using local anaesthesia in 2019, and estimated they saved the equivalent of 60,500 car miles.
That compared to an average of 75 per cent normally done under general anesthesia.
Although the greenhouse gases used in anaesthesia last just a fraction of the time in the atmosphere compared to carbon dioxide, some are thousands of times more potent, and scientists say reducing the impact on the environment in the near future is crucial.
Anaesthetic gases account for between 50-60 per cent of the carbon footprint of an operating theatre in the US as less than 5 per cent of the gases are inhaled by the patient, leaving the rest to enter the atmosphere.
The study also highlighted that local anaesthetic is often preferable in terms of giving patients a shorter hospital stay, more effective pain relief and fewer side effects, although its authors acknowledged it is not always suitable.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I’m scheduled for a hip replacement.
Don’t care if they knock me into next week.
Why don’t you stop breathing, toots. Carbon Dioxide, you know.
Wanting it not to hurt is SO selfish. Have they no consideration for their grandchildren, and the Earth?
I would think this is parody, but CHAZ is on TV...
I had a spinal, with heavy sedation. It was the same as being asleep.
lmao!
I would want whichever works best.
Cognitive impairment being one of them.
Three hips. Do you require a special car seat or something?
So, a good sized sub division or a single pulling competition, which probably puts 5x as much in a single weekend...
It was instant lights out and lights back on. No fog. And no atmospheric pollution.
Just be thankful it’s not your knee is all I can say. I had my hip replaced 2 years ago, wife had her knee 4 months later, I was only 53 at the time (had it done on my 53 birthday actually) and I pray my knees stay healthy after watching her.
I went home, sat for 3 days, said screw this, drove to work and that was it. It’s scary as hell, but sooo worth it in the end.
On a side note, I don’t know how old you are, but my Dr. went a little extra and put one in that the ball and socket are replaceable, like changing a tire. If I wear it out he cut me open, replace them, and never touch the bones, you might want to ask about that.
Two replacements 1 revision. Three in my book smarty buckets.
Just no!
Same thing happened to me.
After the first one, I woke up with less pain than I had before the operation. The rehab was routine and uneventful.
Then my wife had knee replacement a few years later. I’ve never felt so sorry for her. They eventually had to knock her out and do a manipulation to break up the scar tissue so she could move it correctly. Needless to say she’s not enthusiastic about having another one, even though the other knee is starting to bother her.
Lots of differences between the hip and knee joints.
I like the way you think.
Lets just give them CoVid and put them out of their misery!
(Do I really need to add a /sarc tag for that one?)
So, each operation converted would eliminate the equivalent of 7.3 miles driven in a car.
So if you take a taxi to the hospital for your surgery, you have flushed away the savings, and you get to be awake as they saw your body to pieces for nothing.
This is beyond stupid.
Ive heard worse causes of death then that. For me, I hope I go that way, a massive hearts attack or just never wake up some night.
I just broke out in chill bumps. Horrifying.
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