Accelerating the path to sustainable robotic surgery

Abstract

Recent evidence suggests that the increased environmental impact of robotic assisted surgery (RAS) may not sufficiently offset its clinical benefits, with RAS estimated to generate 43% higher greenhouse gas emissions and 24% higher waste production than laparoscopic alternatives. Adoption has expanded rapidly, although robotic surgery offers advantages where enhanced precision, shorter recovery, and lower complication rates are required. In certain operations, these gains have been used to offset and justify increased resource consumption and environmental impact. However, while some robotically delivered procedures demonstrate benefits over open or conventional laparoscopic approaches, many high volume, low complexity procedures have not been proven to deliver such benefits and the additional environmental burden may prove difficult to justify.