High impact actions to reduce the carbon dioxide footprint in an ophthalmic operation room: a narrative review.

Germany´s health care footprint accounts for 5.2 % of the national emissions footprint which results in 0.71 tons of CO2 emission per capita. Thus, the health sector has a responsibility to take climate action. Surgery is a resource-intensive health-care activity, requiring expensive equipment, sterilization procedures, advanced operative technologies, and obligatory life support systems. We spotlight on the situation in a department of ophthalmology with frequent anesthesia services and highly standardized procedures. This narrative review discusses high-impact actions which result in a major reduction of the CO2 footprint according to the global road map for health care decarbonization considering both, the ophthalmic and anesthesiologic point of view.