The environmental impact of single-use, hybrid and reusable central venous catheter insertion kits

Research highlights

"The kit with reusable instruments and reusable textiles had a 65% lower impact on resource use compared to the single-use kit, a 90% lower impact on climate change, an 85% lower impact on ecosystem quality, and a 95% lower impact on human health."
"In contrast to the study by McGain et al., we found that the reusable kit was associated with a lower climate impact than the single-use kit. This is mainly explained by the inclusion of sterile textiles in our analysis, but the low carbon electricity mix and lower energy use in our primary model also contribute"
"We conclude that the use of CVC-insertion kits containing reusable metal instruments and reusable textiles offer a robust opportunity to reduce the environmental impacts and financial costs of CVC insertions in a European setting, compared to the use of kits containing solely single-use items."

Abstract

Single-use items are frequently used for central venous catheter (CVC) insertions. In a previous study comparing a single-use kit to a kit containing reusable metal items, it was found that the carbon footprint was lower for the single-use kit, whereas the reusable kit was cheaper. We wanted to re-examine these findings in a contemporary European setting and to extend the scope of the analysis to include textiles and assessment of additional environmental impact categories. We used life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to assess the effects on resource use, climate change, ecosystem quality and human health [2] of items commonly used during CVC insertions.

Methods & Results

For a complete summary of this data source and to see reported environmental impact values for studied products and activities, explore the HealthcareLCA Database.

Citation

Hemberg L, Wessberg N, Leire C, Bentzer P. Environmental impact of single-use and reusable items in central venous catheter insertion kits: a life cycle assessment. Intensive Care Med (2023)