Smartphone applications (apps) in general surgical practice: An insight into their reliability and usefulness
Aishwarya Sinha1
, Washim Firoz Khan2, Shardool Vikram Gupta3, Pankaj Agrawal4
1Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery, Vardhaman Mahavir Medical College Safdarjung Hospital, Delhi, India
2Department of General Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal, India
3Department of Surgery, Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Medical Collage and Hospital, New Delhi, India
4Department of General Surgery, Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya Hospital, New Delhi, India
Abstract
Objective: In today’s day and age with the advent of smartphones along with the handy apps available for download, there is increasing opportunities for surgeons to integrate such technology into clinical practice with great ease. This study aims to provide a systematic classification of apps in order to provide dependable data for choosing the right app by both surgeons and trainees.
Material and Methods: A series of methodical searches were carried out on “Google Play Store” and “Apple’s App Store” with pre-decided keywords. The results were then sorted and segregated into relevant categories like core surgery, apps related to surgical practice, patient utility apps and other surgical branches. Thereafter, the apps that met with our cut-offs, were assessed for their credibility and utility, based on predefined parameters.
Results: There were a lot of variations in between the categories we segregated the apps into. Using predefined cutoff criteria, (rating >3 and reviews >30), 48 of the apps were assessed finally for their utility and credibility. Out of these 48 apps, 42 were on android platform while the remaining 6 were on iOS. Ten apps were found to be having high credibility and 15 apps have high utility.
Conclusion: The role of smartphone apps in surgery and surgical training appears highly promising and using apps with high credibility and utility will provide dependable and updated information for the surgeons and trainees.
Keywords: Smartphone applications, surgical apps, surgical learning
Cite this article as: Sinha A, Khan WF, Gupta SV, Agrawal P. Smartphone applications (apps) in general surgical practice: An insight into their reliability and usefulness. Turk J Surg 2022; 38 (1): 86-94.
For this study, it is not necessary to have the ethical approval.
Externally peer-reviewed.
Concept - S.V.G., W.F.K.; Design - S.V.G., W.F.K.; Supervision - P.A.; Data Collection and/or Processing - A.S., W.F.K.; Analysis and/or Interpretation - A.S.; Literature Search - A.S., W.F.K.; Critical Reviews - P.A., S.V.G.
The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.
The authors declared that this study has received no financial support.