Q&A: Adapting to New Technology Requires Learning, Training and Risk

Q&A with colon and rectal surgeon Laila Rashidi, MD, FACS, FASCRS, on how technology has impacted the way she operates.

How much has colon and rectal surgery changed since your fellowship training?
Most surgical cases were done open or laparoscopically back then. No emergent, complex or urgent case was performed in a minimally invasive fashion. With the improvement of technology like robotics, there are many minimally invasive procedures now. Surgery is more precise. Patients used to stay in the hospital five or six days after a simple colectomy. Now, these patients can be discharged on the same day.

How has technology impacted the way you approach surgery/helped you perform less invasive and more precise surgeries?
I can now do all my cases robotically — in the least invasive fashion — with less manipulation and less trauma to the tissue. As a result, patients have less ileus and less complications. Advances in robotic technology have also allowed me to encounter very complex cases and emergent cases.

How has the technology helped you improve and collaborate?
We can now record, edit, share and collaborate with each other using surgical video. The technology allows surgeons to share high-definition surgical videos and collaborate in real-time, regardless of their physical location. This technology improves a surgical team’s ability to make informed decisions during complex procedures, but it also facilitates the collaboration and education of surgeons across the nation.

Why do you think some surgeons perhaps aren’t as open to new technology in the OR?
Changes can be difficult for surgeons. Some have grown comfortable with the way they operate, while others may think they’re too old to learn something new. Adapting to new technology requires learning, training and risk.

If you could design the perfect OR, what would you include?
An OR that could take care of everything at one time, and grant me access to it all. I would love artificial intelligence that provides real-time image-based analysis, and the ability to take images and overlay them onto a patient during an operation to help guide my technique. I’d have the capacity to check labs and pathology instantly, and use voice recognition for OR light and bed control. Everything in my perfect OR would be wireless, and we’d have giant monitors everywhere instead of smaller screens. OSM