Sustainable Anaesthesia Practices in EUROPE - a Prospective International Cohort Study (SUSTAIN-EUROPE)

Sustainable Anaesthesia Practices in EUROPE

In response to the climate crises, Societies of Anaesthesiology around the globe call for action to reduce the carbon footprint of daily clinical work. They recommend the use of regional and total intravenous anaesthesia, and for inhalational anaesthesia cases, the use of sevoflurane with low fresh gas flow (FGF < 0.5 lpm) settings. Surprisingly, the type of anaesthesia and ventilation settings commonly used remain largely unknown. This pragmatic observational cross-sectional assessment at all anaesthesia workstations in participating European hospitals in daily routine aims to evaluate anaesthesia practices in the paediatric and adult patient population.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Paediatric and Adult Patients; Carbon Footprint in Anesthetic; Anaesthesia Conduction
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Anaesthesia technique

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 2000

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

SUSTAIN-EUROPE is designed to close the knowledge gap on contemporary anaesthesia practices in both adult and paediatric populations

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• All patients receiving any form of anaesthesia care-whether general or regional anaesthesia, monitored sedation, or monitoring only-from an anaesthetist at an anaesthesia workstation in participating European hospitals during the selected data-collection recruitment period

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients (or legal guardians) who decline consent and patients for whom valid informed consent cannot be obtained due to language barriers or other factors preventing adequate information and understanding.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Type of anaesthesia (inhalational and intravenous general anaesthesia, regional anaesthesia, sedation, combinations, monitoring only)	The type of anaesthesia (inhalational and intravenous general anaesthesia, regional anaesthesia, sedation, combinations, or monitoring only) will be recorded by a trained team member collecting data perioperatively 5-60 minutes after skin incision or start of procedure, respectively. In the event that the anaesthetic approach changes intraoperatively, only the technique recorded at that time point will be used for analysis. Any local anaesthetic infiltration performed by the anaesthetist will be classified as regional anaesthesia, whereas if the surgeon alone administers local anaesthetic, this will not be classified by regional anaesthesia.	5-60 min after the skin incision

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: European Society of Anaesthesiology

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): March 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): March 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): March 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 19, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 19, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): November 28, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 28, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 19, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: CTN_SUSTAIN-EUROPE

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No