Surgical innovation is harder than it looks

A recent issue of Nature lamented about the dearth of surgical innovation.1 “Innovation” is just one of many new catch phrases invading medicine; it has become a hotter phrase than “knowledge translation.” It just sounds so futuristic! It also seems to be applicable across community and academic lines if promoted properly. There are other new buzzwords populating news releases on new opportunities. “Disruptive research” is another commonly used phrase. But almost nothing in medicine is disruptive, contrary to the news releases. New scalpels and laser-guided surgery are not disruptive — they are improvements to older concepts. Similarly, new Global Positioning System technology is not really disrupting the automobile industry; rather, self-driving cars will be disruptive, as they will bring new models of income and potentially free time for other tasks while driving. Hacking Health initiatives are also timely and mantra-like. But products of health hacking are not taking over my operating room and disrupting my practice. So, we are left with surgical innovation as a real goal for surgeons despite a problem with its reported dearth