Smartphone applications (apps) in general surgical practice: An insight into their reliability and usefulness.

OBJECTIVES

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.