Preface
The modern era of surgery makes this an exciting and rewarding time to practice surgery. Without doubt, surgical outcomes are constantly improving. Nevertheless, a push for improvement, with novel advances in the multidisciplinary field of surgery have stimulated an unprecedented and rapid evolution of surgical innovation and technology. In an effort to capture the ever-changing and extremely broad field of surgical advances, this supplemental issue, ‘Innovations and Technology in Surgery’ in the Annals of Translational Medicine embodies the notion of applying what is ‘new’ to the patient and the surgeon. Much of what is novel may fade into failure or may develop into the new standard. As Osler once stated, ‘The philosophies of one age have become the absurdities of the next, and the foolishness of yesterday has become the wisdom of tomorrow.’ As surgeons it is our fiduciary responsibility to remain abreast of the newest and best of current surgical therapy so that we may offer our patients just that.
In a two-part supplemental issue, our distinguished authors have finely reviewed topics of today and (inevitably) tomorrow. Some topics may be unfamiliar to many clinicians, which is why we specifically selected subjects that would be of interest to both physicians and surgeons. Supplement part 1 comprehensively reviews the novel applications of fluorescent-imaging in surgical planning, presents the current state of surgical telementoring, uncovers remarkable advances in fetal surgery, and critically details the composition, advantages, disadvantages, and potential misuse of national databases. It is with great enthusiasm we introduce part 1 of ‘Innovations and Technology in Surgery.’
