Purpose: To investigate the financial and environmental waste burden of unused disposable surgical supplies and pharmaceutical products in oculofacial plastic surgery at a hospital-based outpatient surgery center.

Methods: This descriptive study was performed at a single academic hospital-based outpatient surgery center. Unused pharmaceuticals and disposable surgical materials were recorded for each of 34 consecutive oculofacial plastic surgeries performed by the same surgical team. Pharmaceutical products were grouped as local anesthetic (tetracaine, bupivacaine, lidocaine, and sodium bicarbonate), intraoperative (basic saline solution, methylene blue, and oxymetazoline hydrochloride), or antiseptic/antimicrobial (erythromycin ointment and hydrogen peroxide). Percentage of unused pharmaceutical product and disposable surgical material were calculated and extrapolated to direct costs to the institution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Results: The mean percentage of disposable surgical supply waste per case was 11.6% ($29.32). The mean percentage of pharmaceutical waste was 96.1% ($271.84) for local anesthetic, 71.0% ($163.47) for intraoperative medications, and 26.7% ($2.19) for antiseptic medication. The mean emissions per surgical case for unused disposable surgical equipment and unused pharmaceutical product were 10 and 103 kg of carbon equivalent gases (kg CO2-e), respectively.

Conclusions: Surgical supply waste was nominal, but pharmaceutical waste was considerable in this single hospital-based outpatient surgery center study. There may exist opportunities for quality improvement in waste, especially pharmacologic burden, in oculofacial plastic surgery.

Copyright © 2021 The American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Inc.