Sustainability in surgery: insights from the 2024 SAGES Annual Meeting
10 affiliations
- 1Department of Colorectal Surgery, Ellen Leifer Shulman and Steven Shulman Digestive Disease Center, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston, FL USA
- 2Department of General Surgery, Baptist Heath South Florida, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL USA
- 3Colorectal Surgery Unit, General Surgery Department, Mansoura University Hospitals, Mansoura, Egypt
- 4Department of Surgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC Canada
- 5Division of Colon and Rectal Surgery, Mount Sinai Health System, New York, NY USA
- 6Department of Colorectal Surgery, Medstar Georgetown University Health, Washington, DC USA
- 7University College London, London, UK
- 8Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston Hospital, 2950 Cleveland Clinic Boulevard, Weston, FL 33331 USA
- 9Department of Surgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON Canada
- 10Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD USA
Abstract
Background: The healthcare sector is a major contributor to global carbon emissions, with operating rooms representing particularly waste-intensive environments. Despite growing interest in sustainability in surgery, little qualitative research has explored surgeons’ and surgical trainees’ perceptions of this issue or their responses to professional society sustainability initiatives.
Methods: This qualitative study used semi-structured, in-depth interviews with surgeons and surgical trainees who attended at least one sustainability session at the 2024 Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) Annual Meeting. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants, and interviews were conducted in person or via Zoom. Transcripts were analyzed using the framework method with an abductive approach to coding. Domains and themes were generated using constant comparison.
Results: 18 participants were interviewed, including surgeons, fellows, and residents from academic and community settings. Two major domains emerged: (1) attitudes and perceptions of sustainability in surgery and (2) responses to the 2024 SAGES Annual Meeting’s sustainability agenda. Participants conceptualized sustainability as both mindful resource use and concrete waste-reduction actions. The operating room was widely viewed as a highly wasteful environment. Sustainability sessions were perceived as educational, motivating, and impactful, particularly through leadership engagement and the presentation of quantitative environmental data. Many participants reported increased awareness and expressed intentions to implement sustainable changes in their own practices.
Conclusions: Participants demonstrated strong support for sustainability initiatives and viewed the SAGES sustainability sessions as a catalyst for individual and institutional change. These findings highlight the influential role of professional societies, leadership, and data-driven education in advancing sustainability in surgical practice.
Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-026-13181-x.
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BibTeX
@article{wignakumar2026sustainability,
title = {{Sustainability in surgery: insights from the 2024 SAGES Annual Meeting}},
author = {Anjelli Wignakumar and Justin Dourado and Sameh Hany Emile and Julio F. Fiore and Patricia Sylla and Steven D. Wexner and Lakshmi Linkeshwaran and Marylise Boutros and Olivia Monton},
journal = {Surgical Endoscopy},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1007/s00464-026-13181-x},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-026-13181-x},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Sustainability in surgery: insights from the 2024 SAGES Annual Meeting
AU - Anjelli Wignakumar
AU - Justin Dourado
AU - Sameh Hany Emile
AU - Julio F. Fiore
AU - Patricia Sylla
AU - Steven D. Wexner
AU - Lakshmi Linkeshwaran
AU - Marylise Boutros
AU - Olivia Monton
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/10
JO - Surgical Endoscopy
DO - 10.1007/s00464-026-13181-x
UR - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-026-13181-x
AB - Background: The healthcare sector is a major contributor to global carbon emissions, with operating rooms representing particularly waste-intensive environments. Despite growing interest in sustainability in surgery, little qualitative research has explored surgeons’ and surgical trainees’ perceptions of this issue or their responses to professional society sustainability initiatives. Methods: This qualitative study used semi-structured, in-depth interviews with surgeons and surgical trainees who attended at least one sustainability session at the 2024 Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) Annual Meeting. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants, and interviews were conducted in person or via Zoom. Transcripts were analyzed using the framework method with an abductive approach to coding. Domains and themes were generated using constant comparison. Results: 18 participants were interviewed, including surgeons, fellows, and residents from academic and community settings. Two major domains emerged: (1) attitudes and perceptions of sustainability in surgery and (2) responses to the 2024 SAGES Annual Meeting’s sustainability agenda. Participants conceptualized sustainability as both mindful resource use and concrete waste-reduction actions. The operating room was widely viewed as a highly wasteful environment. Sustainability sessions were perceived as educational, motivating, and impactful, particularly through leadership engagement and the presentation of quantitative environmental data. Many participants reported increased awareness and expressed intentions to implement sustainable changes in their own practices. Conclusions: Participants demonstrated strong support for sustainability initiatives and viewed the SAGES sustainability sessions as a catalyst for individual and institutional change. These findings highlight the influential role of professional societies, leadership, and data-driven education in advancing sustainability in surgical practice. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-026-13181-x.
SN - 0930-2794
SN - 1432-2218
ER -