Greener anesthesia practices halve operating room emissions and cut drug costs

· Health

Hospitals can sharply reduce the climate impact and cost of surgery without compromising patient safety by changing routine anesthesia practices, including cutting back on high-emission anesthetic gases, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2026 annual meeting. The greener approach halved operating room emissions and reduced anesthetic costs by nearly 40 percent, the report said. Anesthetic gases such as desflurane are potent greenhouse gases, and several health systems have begun phasing them out. The findings give hospitals a cost argument alongside the environmental one. The report did not name the hospitals studied or the size of the program.

Why it matters：Anesthesia gases are a material slice of hospital emissions, so evidence tying greener protocols to lower costs could accelerate phase-outs across health systems.

Key points

  • Operating room emissions fell by half under the greener protocol.
  • Anesthetic costs dropped nearly 40 percent.
  • The study focused on reducing use of high-emission anesthetic gases.

Sources (original reporting)

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