Vice-Chair of the 2020 Board of Regents of ACS (American College of Surgeons) – Dr. Steven Wexner: My perspective on some of the current hot topics related to surgery

Personal Introduction

Dr. Steven Wexner is the Director of the Digestive Disease Center and Chairman of the Department of Colorectal Surgery at Cleveland Clinic Florida.

Dr. Wexner is the Past President of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, Past President of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, Past President of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons Research Foundation, Past President of the American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, Past President of the Florida Gastroenterologic Society, and the Past President of the South Florida Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. In 2012, he was elected to the Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons. And he was recently elected as Vice-Chair of the Board of Regents of the American College of Surgeons (ACS) during the College's virtual Clinical Congress 2020, held during October 3-7.

Introduction to the interview

One of the biggest advances in minimally invasive surgery in the past decade has been reflected in robotic surgery. Robotics combined with computer science can enhance the skills of surgeons and greatly improve the accuracy and precision of complex operations. Compared with laparoscopic surgery, robotic surgery has certain superiorities, but its use is still open to question. That's because the cost is higher, the effect is not clear, limited evidence can indicate more benefits (for example, fewer complications or tumor resection with higher quality), and there are differences in the superiority of it in different surgeries. Hence, the Editorial Department of Mini-invasive Surgery (MIS) launched a Special Issue about the topic of "Robotic or Laparoscopic Surgery for Rectal Cancer - Which Is the Best Answer?" last year.

It is a great honor that we have successively invited Dr. Steven Wexner to participate  in our journal and have published two articles titled  "Robotic or laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer - which is the best answer? a comprehensive review of non-oncological outcomes and learning curve" and "Robotic or laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer - which is the best answer? a comprehensive review of oncological outcomes and learning curve". The two articles aimed at comparing the robotic and laparoscopic surgery for rectal cancer, in terms of non-oncological and oncological outcomes and learning curve, respectively. Under the influence of the COVID-19 epidemic, we had an online interview with Dr. Wexner about his experience and perspective about some hot topics.

Interview

Q1: What advice do you have for young surgeons on how to choose between robotic surgery and laparoscopic surgery?

Q2: What is your assessment on the current development state and future trends of minimally invasive treatment of colorectal cancer?

Q3: Artificial intelligence technologies such as image guidance are gradually making surgery easier to perform. Could you give more insight into this point?

Q4: What do you think of the impacts and implications of artificial intelligence on the healthcare?

Q5: Could you please give us more of your thoughts on precision laboratory medicine?

Q6: Finally, how do you like our journal?

For more about his articles, please click the link here (https://oaepublish.com/specials/mis.439).

Respectfully submitted by the Editorial Office of Mini-invasive Surgery.
Written by Judith Duan
Assistant editor of Mini-invasive Surgery