Clinical trial · Observational
The Carbon Footprint Study of Colonoscopy
The Carbon Footprint Study of Colonoscopy for Colorectal Cancer Screening and Various Techniques of Colonic Polypectomy
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
With global warming intensifying, GI endoscopy is among the top three greenhouse gas-emitting medical procedures. Colonoscopy, a cornerstone for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, significantly contributes to the carbon footprint (CF). This study quantifies CO₂ emissions in different steps of colonoscopy and evaluates the environmental impact of common polypectomy techniques to establish baseline CF data and identify opportunities for mitigation. This study included patients undergoing colonoscopy for CRC screening. CO₂ emissions were comprehensively measured at each step of the procedure (pre-, during, and post-colonoscopy), including energy consumption, all equipment and medications, waste management, and endoscopy reprocessing. Emission data were also collected for common polypectomy techniques, including cold forceps biopsy (CFB), cold snare polypectomy (CSP), hot snare polypectomy (HSP), and hot snare endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR), all performed according to standard polypectomy protocols.
Conditions
Conditions (1)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colonoscopy | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (0)
Data not yet available
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- label
- Diagnostic Colonoscopy
- description
- Patient receiving diagnostic colonoscopy for colorectal cancer screening without therapeutic intervention
- label
- Colonoscopy with colonic polypectomy
- description
- Patient receiving colonoscopy with various techniques of colonic polypectomy
Primary outcomes (2)
- measure
- Carbon footprint of normal screening colonoscopy
- timeFrame
- From bowel preparation ingestion through completion of endoscope reprocessing for each colonoscopy procedure.
- description
- Mean carbon footprint, expressed as kgCO₂e per procedure, calculated across the pre-endoscopic, endoscopic, and post-endoscopic phases.
- measure
- Incremental carbon footprint according to colonic polypectomy technique
- timeFrame
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
- Maximum age
- 80 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Patients aged 18-80 years Exclusion Criteria: * Patient status grade III-V according to the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) * Poor bowel preparation (grade \<6 in the Boston Bowel Preparation Scale \[BBPS\]) * Endoscopic JNET type III or suspicion of malignancy * Hematologic or coagulation disorders, Plt\<140,000/mcL, INR\>1.5 * anti-platelet/anticoagulant medication that could not be paused as recommended in the current guideline * Emergency colonoscopy, GI bleeding, unstable vital sign, critical ill patient * Inflammatory bowel disease * Pregnancy * Severe cardiopulmonary disease * Severe infection * Malignancy * History of allergy to IV sedative medication
References
Publications (22)
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- RESULTMcGinnis S, Johnson-Privitera C, Nunziato JD, Wohlford S. Environmental Life Cycle Assessment in Medical Practice: A User's Guide. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2021 Jul;76(7):417-428. doi: 10.1097/OGX.0000000000000906. PMID 34324694
- RESULTSevigne-Itoiz E, Mwabonje O, Panoutsou C, Woods J. Life cycle assessment (LCA): informing the development of a sustainable circular bioeconomy? Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2021 Sep 20;379(2206):20200352. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2020.0352. Epub 2021 Aug 2. PMID 34334023
- RESULTYu X, Tan C. China's process-related greenhouse gas emission dataset 1990-2020. Sci Data. 2023 Jan 25;10(1):55. doi: 10.1038/s41597-023-01957-y. PMID 36697420
- RESULTRodriguez de Santiago E, Dinis-Ribeiro M, Pohl H, Agrawal D, Arvanitakis M, Baddeley R, Bak E, Bhandari P, Bretthauer M, Burga P, Donnelly L, Eickhoff A, Hayee B, Kaminski MF, Karlovic K, Lorenzo-Zuniga V, Pellise M, Pioche M, Siau K, Siersema PD, Stableforth W, Tham TC, Triantafyllou K, Tringali A, Veitch A, Voiosu AM, Webster GJ, Vienne A, Beilenhoff U, Bisschops R, Hassan C, Gralnek IM, Messmann H. Reducing the environmental footprint of gastrointestinal endoscopy: European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) and European Society of Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Nurses and Associates (ESGENA) Position Statement. Endoscopy. 2022 Aug;54(8):797-826. doi: 10.1055/a-1859-3726. Epub 2022 Jul 8. PMID 35803275
- RESULTVaccari M, Tudor T, Perteghella A. Costs associated with the management of waste from healthcare facilities: An analysis at national and site level. Waste Manag Res. 2018 Jan;36(1):39-47. doi: 10.1177/0734242X17739968. Epub 2017 Nov 14.