Artificial Intelligence in Everyday Surgical Practice: A Practical Review.

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools have moved from novelty to measurable clinical impact in surgical practice. This review organizes the literature and practical guidance around five problems surgeons face: documentation burden, information overload, administrative accumulation, practice intelligence, and implementation. Each section follows a consistent structure: the problem, the evidence for addressing it, the type of tool that fits, and what failure looks like. The review draws on the best available evidence across study designs and addresses compliance, implementation, and measurement throughout. The paper's central argument is that AI's near-term role in surgery is not to replace surgical judgment, but to reduce the cognitive and administrative overhead that surrounds it. Clinical judgment, technical skill, and operative intuition remain irreducibly human. A final section addresses the educational implications of training surgeons in an AI-enabled environment.