Can Artificial Intelligence Calculate the Risks of Your Aesthetic Surgery?
Artificial intelligence assistants can list the general risks associated with aesthetic surgery within seconds. They may also comment on a person’s level of risk by assessing certain information, such as age, weight, smoking and chronic medical conditions. However, this interpretation is not equivalent to an individualised risk assessment performed by an experienced plastic surgeon whose professional qualifications have been verified.
General-purpose AI assistants, in particular, remain far behind plastic surgeons in the management of surgical risk. Risk management involves more than knowing which complications may occur. It requires identifying risks in the individual patient, taking measures to reduce them and managing them appropriately when necessary.
How Does Artificial Intelligence Calculate Risk?
Artificial intelligence can generate responses only from the information provided to it. If a patient does not disclose that they smoke, take regular medication or have previously undergone surgery, the system cannot consider these factors. It also cannot verify whether the information provided is accurate and complete.
Risk assessments offered by general-purpose AI assistants are usually based on general information relating to similar groups of patients. However, two patients of the same age and weight may have different medical conditions, anatomies, planned operations and capacities for recovery. General statistics do not provide an exact measure of an individual patient’s risk.
How Does a Plastic Surgeon Assess Risk?
A plastic surgeon does not rely solely on the written information provided by the patient. The surgeon takes a detailed medical history, performs a physical examination and evaluates the scope of the planned operation. When necessary, blood tests, imaging studies and opinions from physicians in other specialties may also be requested.
The condition of the skin and tissues, previous operations, existing surgical scars, circulatory characteristics and the anticipated duration of surgery all form part of the risk assessment. Artificial intelligence may comment on certain features visible in a photograph, but it cannot physically examine the true condition of the tissues or evaluate the relationship between all clinical findings in the same way as a surgeon.
Why Are FACS and Board Certifications Important in Risk Management?
A plastic surgeon’s specialist training, board certifications and professional qualifications such as FACS indicate that certain educational, ethical and professional standards have been met. These credentials do not guarantee that every operation will be free from risk or that a particular appearance will be achieved. However, they are important criteria when assessing a surgeon’s training and professional competence.
A surgeon with a strong approach to risk management does not merely understand how to perform an operation. The surgeon must also be able to determine which patients are unsuitable for surgery, which procedures should not be combined and when the surgical plan should be limited. Postponing an operation or deciding not to recommend surgery may also be part of responsible risk management.
Artificial intelligence, by contrast, does not carry surgical responsibility. Even when it suggests that a patient may not be suitable for surgery, it cannot assume clinical responsibility for that assessment or monitor the consequences of its recommendation.
Is Risk Management Limited to the Preoperative Period?
Surgical risks are not assessed only before an operation. During surgery, the response of the tissues, bleeding, circulation and the patient’s general condition are continuously monitored. The original plan may need to be modified in the interests of safety.
An experienced plastic surgeon can adapt the surgical approach immediately according to the findings encountered. Artificial intelligence can analyse data entered in advance, but it cannot independently manage changing conditions in the operating theatre, perform an intervention or assume medical responsibility.
Risk management also continues after surgery. Symptoms such as pain, swelling, changes in the appearance of the wound or shortness of breath must be assessed to determine whether they are part of normal recovery or indicate a condition requiring medical attention. Artificial intelligence may list possible causes, but it cannot examine the patient or provide the necessary intervention.
The Human Factors Artificial Intelligence Cannot Calculate
A patient’s adherence to postoperative instructions, whether they stop smoking, their level of physical activity and their regular attendance at follow-up appointments may also affect surgical risks. During the consultation, the plastic surgeon attempts to assess whether the patient understands the process and whether their expectations are realistic.
Artificial intelligence can analyse written responses, but it cannot reliably recognise a patient’s hesitation, body language or whether certain information has been withheld. Risk assessment should therefore not be regarded as a purely numerical calculation.
What Should the Role of Artificial Intelligence Be in Risk Management?
Digital systems developed for specific purposes and clinically validated may assist surgeons in calculating certain risks. However, these systems are not the same as general-purpose AI assistants. Neither can replace the clinical assessment of a plastic surgeon.
Artificial intelligence can explain general risks and help patients prepare before a consultation. However, it cannot determine an individual patient’s level of risk, intervene when a complication occurs or assume responsibility for the process. The assessment and management of aesthetic surgery risks should be carried out by an experienced plastic surgeon whose professional qualifications have been verified and who is competent in the relevant procedure.
Physician Information
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sedat Tatar is a Plastic, Reconstructive, and Aesthetic Surgery specialist who is Double Board Certified by two international boards. He holds the titles of Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS) and Fellow of the European Board of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (FEBOPRAS).
His international professional memberships include ISAPS (International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery) and ASPS (American Society of Plastic Surgeons).
His clinic is located in Istanbul and is officially authorized by the Turkish Ministry of Health as a Health Tourism Center. His company is registered in the United Kingdom & Wales.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Telephone No : +90 (555) 100 10 83
Contact Link : [email protected]
Address : Levent District, Karanfil Araligi Street No: 18 Besiktas/ISTANBUL
