AB060. SOH25_AB_019. Comparative analysis of perceptions on intraoperative artificial intelligence: a survey study amongst surgeons and medical students in Ireland
General Surgery II

AB060. SOH25_AB_019. Comparative analysis of perceptions on intraoperative artificial intelligence: a survey study amongst surgeons and medical students in Ireland

Doris Braunstein1, Haniya Farooq1, Marco Paolino1, Alice Moynihan2, Ronan Cahill2

1Department of Surgery, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; 2Department of Surgery, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

Background: Artificial intelligence (AI) promises to revolutionise healthcare but has been previously characterised by cycles of ‘boom’ and ‘bust’. Alongside technological capability, realistic user expectations are essential for appropriate implementation. We surveyed surgeons, surgical trainees, and medical students in Ireland regarding their current perceptions.

Methods: Electronic survey distributed through professional networks and social media with institutional ethical approval. Statistical and thematic analyses were performed to identify key perspectives.

Results: Among 94 participants (63% medical students, 18% surgical trainees, 15% consultants), 62.7% “strongly agreed” that AI could enhance real-time decision-making during surgery. Most (90.5%) believed AI was already being surgically deployed to some extent although only 18% felt it appropriate ever to use for decision-making. While 53.2% were positive about AI’s potential to improve surgical outcomes, 72.3% reported no AI training in this context despite 86.2% (92.8% of consultants were “extremely/very interested”) expressing interest. The primary concerns with AI regarded accuracy and reliability (38.7%) and the lack of evidence of effectiveness (33.7%). Surgical trainees expressed greater concern about AI transparency (47% “extremely concerned”) compared to consultants (42.9% “slightly concerned”) and, along with students (both >50%) declared higher concern regarding liability issues versus consultants (64.3% of whom had “little to no concern”).

Conclusions: Students and postgraduates in surgery in Ireland express optimism and high expectations for AI’s potential to improve surgery. However, concerns about reliability, evidence, and liability persist with clear caution regarding automated decision making and insight regarding need for education that may help align expectations realistically regarding AI evolution.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence (AI); intraoperative decision making; medical students; surgery; surgeon perspectives

Acknowledgments

None.

Footnote

Funding: None.

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

doi: 10.21037/map-25-ab060
Cite this abstract as: Braunstein D, Farooq H, Paolino M, Moynihan A, Cahill R. AB060. SOH25_AB_019. Comparative analysis of perceptions on intraoperative artificial intelligence: a survey study amongst surgeons and medical students in Ireland. Mesentery Peritoneum 2025;9:AB060.

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