Dataset for carbon footprints of transforaminal lumbar interbody fusions performed under spinal or general anesthesia

The datasets presented here quantify and compare the relative carbon footprints emitted by general versus spinal anesthesia in patients undergoing single-level transforaminal lumbar interbody fusions (TLIFs). Data were retrospectively collected from electronic medical records of 100 consecutive patients who underwent a single-level TLIF from a single neurosurgeon at a U.S. academic center. 50 patients were under general anesthesia, and another 50 patients were under spinal anesthesia. Clinic and operative notes were used to extract demographic and surgical information, whereas anesthesia records were used to extract anesthetic information. Using the anesthetic information, carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) were calculated for each type of anesthetic and summed together to compute the total carbon footprint for each patient. Our article entitled “Assessing the environmental carbon footprint of spinal versus general anesthesia in single-level transforaminal lumbar interbody fusions” is based on this data. Raw datasets of the primary data collection as well as cleaned and analyzed datasets are presented. These datasets highlight the first known environmental impact calculation from medical records of a spine procedure, serving as a model for other interested investigators to explore and emulate. This data brief may help to pave the way towards future environmental research and practice changes within neurosurgical and orthopedic literature, an issue critical to the sustainability of our modern society.