The Use of Disposable Supplies: Measuring Suburethral Sling Surgical Waste by Cost and Weight

Abstract

Importance The health care industry is a leading contributor to solid waste in the United States, and two thirds of a hospital's regulated medical waste is produced from surgery. Objective The primary objective was to assess the utilization of single-use disposable supplies during suburethral sling cases. Study Design We observed suburethral sling plus cystoscopy procedures at an academic medical center. Cases with concomitant procedures were excluded. Our primary outcome was the quantity of wasted supplies, defined as disposable supplies that were opened at the start of the procedure and were unused. Secondarily, we quantified those supplies in both weight and United States dollars. In a subset of cases, we obtained the weight of the total amount of trash generated from the procedure. Results A total of 20 cases were observed. Most frequently wasted items included an emesis basin, large ring basin, and rectangle plastic tray. Redundant supplies wasted included a 1-L sterile water bottle and, on average, 2.73 (SD, 2.34) blue towels. The sum of the weight of the wasted items among cases was 1.33 lb, associated with $9.50. The average total amount of trash produced from 11 cases was 14.13 lb (SD, 2.27). Removal of the most frequently wasted items would achieve a 9.4% reduction in solid waste produced by the case. Conclusions A large waste burden per surgical case was produced by a minor procedure. Removal of frequently wasted items, a reduced number of towels, and smaller cystoscopy fluid bags are simple strategies that would decrease overall waste production.