Artificial Intelligence In The Operation Room: Real-Time Prediction of Complications

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a rapidly growing technology that helps transform industries and improve their way of functioning. It has been known for their significant contribution to modern healthcare through diagnosis, technological developments, and most notably the operating room. Every surgery is extremely high risk in which the patient is subjected to many complications, such as excessive bleeding, organ damage, and even death. The patient depends on the surgeon's abilities to help them survive. With Artificial intelligence, their technology provides another layer of safety, having the ability to predict and flag complications while tracking the patient in real time. 

With advancements in technology, Artificial Intelligence has the ability to process vast amounts of data at one time. AI constantly monitors patients during surgery, tracking vital signs, blood loss, or even subtle changes a human wouldn’t be able to notice immediately. Before these developments, surgeons and anesthesiologists were responsible for keeping track of the patients well being, often missing important changes in their bodies due to increased levels of stress and pressure in the operating room. Because of this, patients were at higher risk of complications and often the fatality rate was up. With AI tracking data in real time, they can easily spot patterns that indicate early signs of complication, alerting the surgeons immediately.

An example of AI being used in the operating room would be datasets that detect abnormalities in blood pressure. These systems would flag potential injuries or changes before the human eye can see, augmenting surgical judgement. AI significantly helps surgeons and people working in the operating room as it acts like a second pair of eyes, never missing abnormalities and cues happening. By providing early warning signals, AI helps reduce the mortality rate and complications within surgeries. It also helps with the patients overall well being, often reducing hospital stays, costs, and post-op complications. 

Though AI imposes many benefits to healthcare, there are some flaws. AI isn’t fully reliable, sometimes misinterpreting something as an abnormality, setting off a false alarm over something that doesn’t need to be fixed. This creates more stress within the operation room and fatigues the surgical team. Overreliance on AI should be addressed and we should validate AI models before it becomes widespread and adopted throughout different hospitals. 

Overall, AI has revolutionized how surgeries operate by enhancing patient safety and supporting surgical teams during high pressure situations, creating a lending hand in operations. While issues do remain, AI will help future developments in technologies and further ensure safety and care for patients. 

by Sofia Bonilla at Incisionary

References

Byrd, T. F., IV, & Tignanelli, C. J. (2024). Artificial intelligence in surgery—a narrative review. Journal of Medical Artificial Intelligence (JMAI). https://doi.org/10.21037/jmai-24-111 jmai.amegroups.org

Guo, C., et al. (2025). Artificial intelligence in surgical medicine: a brief review. Annals of Medicine & Surgery, 87(4), 2180-2186. https://doi.org/10.1097/MS9.0000000000003115 Lippincott Journals

Hashimoto, D. A., et al. (2018). Artificial Intelligence in Surgery: Promises and Perils. Annals of Surgery. https://doi.org/10.1097/SLA.0000000000002693 PMC

Morris, M. X., Fiocco, D., Caneva, T., Yiapanis, P., Orgill, D. P., & others. (2024). Current and future applications of artificial intelligence in surgery: Implications for clinical practice and research. Frontiers in Surgery. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsurg.2024.1393898 Frontiers