Machine learning perioperative applications in visceral surgery: a narrative review

Abstract

Artificial intelligence in surgery has seen an expansive rise in research and clinical implementation in recent years, with many of the models being driven by machine learning. In the preoperative setting, machine learning models have been utilized to guide indications for surgery, appropriate timing of operations, calculation of risks and prognostication, along with improving estimations of time and resources required for surgeries. Intraoperative applications that have been demonstrated are visual annotations of the surgical field, automated classification of surgical phases and prediction of intraoperative patient decompensation. Postoperative applications have been studied the most, with most efforts put towards prediction of postoperative complications, recurrence patterns of malignancy, enhanced surgical education and assessment of surgical skill. Challenges to implementation of these models in clinical practice include the need for more quantity and quality of standardized data to improve model performance, sufficient resources and infrastructure to train and use machine learning, along with addressing ethical and patient acceptance considerations.