Life Cycle Assessment of Reusable and Disposable Cystoscopes: A Path to Greener Urological Procedures.

Background: The environmental impact of reusable and disposable devices is unclear; reuse is expected to reduce the carbon footprint, but the environmental impact of reprocessing of reusable devices is increasingly being questioned.

Objective: The aim was to provide the first rigorous life cycle assessment of reusable and disposable flexible cystoscopes.

Design, Setting, And Participants: We performed a life cycle assessment of reusable flexible cystoscopes and the aS4C single-use cystoscope (aScope; Ambu, Ballerup, Denmark).

Cost and Environmental Impact of Disposable Flexible Cystoscopes Compared to Reusable Devices.

To quantify the environmental impact and costs associated with flexible cystoscopy procedures from an institutional perspective, with particular attention for the comparison between disposable and reusable cystoscopes. This is a single-center retrospective study, including all flexible cystoscopies performed between 2020 and 2021 using reusable or single-use devices. The Ambu aS4C single-use cystoscope (Ballerup, Denmark) gradually replaced the reusable device in our center, with exclusive use from October 2021.