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Fear of innovation: public’s perception of robotic surgery

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Abstract

Background

Robotic surgery is used in several surgical procedures with limited evidence of clinical benefit. In some jurisdictions, the demand for robotic surgery may have been fueled by public perception of this novel technology. Therefore, we sought to investigate the public’s perception of robotic surgery.

Study design

We conducted a cross-sectional survey using a series of vignette-associated questions designed to examine the public’s perception of robotic surgery. Eligible participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk’s system and randomized to one of two pairs of vignettes: laparoscopic surgery compared to (1) robotic surgery, or (2) “novel surgical technology” (without using the term “robotic”). Outcomes of interest were anticipated postoperative outcomes using the surgical fear questionnaire, procedure preference, perception of error, trust, and competency of the surgeon.

Results

The survey included 362 respondents; 64.1% were male with median age of 53 years. There were no differences in the distribution of responses of the questionnaire based on use of the term “robotic” or “novel surgical technology”; therefore, the two cohorts were combined to examine perception of robotic compared to laparoscopic surgery. More respondents feared outcomes of robotic surgery than laparoscopic surgery (78.2% vs 14.9%, p < 0.001). Participants preferred laparoscopic to robotic surgery (64.4% vs 35.6%, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

The public fears recovery after robotic surgery and prefers laparoscopic surgery. The propagation of robotic surgery is unlikely based on public demand and may be more related to institutional or surgeon perceptions. Surgeons who provide robotic surgery should ensure their patients are comfortable with and understand this technology.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Surgical Innovation Program at the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. HM salary support was provided by the Physician Services Incorporated Research Trainee Fellowship and the Canadian Institute of Health Research Vanier Scholarship.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Hala Muaddi, Avery Nathens, Matthew P. Guttman & Paul J. Karanicolas

  2. Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Hala Muaddi, Charles de Mestral, Avery Nathens, Therese A. Stukel, Matthew P. Guttman & Paul J. Karanicolas

  3. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Xian Zhao & Geoffrey J. Leonardelli

  4. Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Geoffrey J. Leonardelli

  5. Division of Vascular Surgery, Saint Michaels Hospital, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    Charles de Mestral

  6. ICES, Toronto, Canada

    Charles de Mestral, Avery Nathens & Therese A. Stukel

  7. Division of General Surgery, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON, M4N 3M5, Canada

    Avery Nathens & Paul J. Karanicolas

Authors
  1. Hala Muaddi
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  2. Xian Zhao
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  3. Geoffrey J. Leonardelli
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  4. Charles de Mestral
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  5. Avery Nathens
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  6. Therese A. Stukel
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  7. Matthew P. Guttman
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  8. Paul J. Karanicolas
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Contributions

Conception and design: HM, PK, XZ, and GL. Acquisition of data: HM and XZ. Drafting of the article: HM. Final approval: All. Access to data: All. Accountability for all aspects of the work: All.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Paul J. Karanicolas.

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Disclosures

Drs. Hala Muaddi, Xian Zhao, Geoffrey Leonardelli, Charles de Mestral, Avery Nathens, Therese Stukel, Matthew Guttman and Paul Karanicolas have no conflicts of interest or financial ties to disclose.

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Muaddi, H., Zhao, X., Leonardelli, G.J. et al. Fear of innovation: public’s perception of robotic surgery. Surg Endosc 36, 6076–6083 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-022-09011-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00464-022-09011-5

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