Environmental safety in minimal access surgery and its bio-economics

INTRODUCTION: Minimal access surgery has altered the field of surgery with its revolutionary advancements with respect to laparoscopy wherein the latter has been elevated to a safer procedure than ever before. However, along with its benefits, minimally invasive surgical procedures have detrimental environmental implications as well. Further, the overall bio-economics of carbon emissions during the surgery is another important factor. AIM: The present article makes an effort to discuss and analyse the carbon footprint of minimal access surgery and to understand the co-benefits and co-costs in terms of environmental safety and bio-economics. RESULTS: The findings indicate that carbon footprint in these surgical procedures are rarely studied which otherwise bear significant negative relations with respect to the environment. CONCLUSIONS: The study concludes that work on improving the design of these technologies is to be done so that apart from reducing the costs improvement of safety, comfort and better impact on future generation can also be achieved.