Artificial Intelligence as a Triage Tool during the Perioperative Period: Pilot Study of Accuracy and Accessibility for Clinical Application

Background:. Given the dialogistic properties of ChatGPT, we hypothesized that this artificial intelligence (AI) function can be used as a self-service tool where clinical questions can be directly answered by AI. Our objective was to assess the content, accuracy, and accessibility of AI-generated c...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Carter J. Boyd, MD, MBA, Kshipra Hemal, MD, Thomas J. Sorenson, MD, Parth A. Patel, MD, Jonathan M. Bekisz, MD, MSci, Mihye Choi, MD, Nolan S. Karp, MD
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wolters Kluwer 2024-02-01
Series:Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Global Open
Online Access:http://journals.lww.com/prsgo/fulltext/10.1097/GOX.0000000000005580
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Summary:Background:. Given the dialogistic properties of ChatGPT, we hypothesized that this artificial intelligence (AI) function can be used as a self-service tool where clinical questions can be directly answered by AI. Our objective was to assess the content, accuracy, and accessibility of AI-generated content regarding common perioperative questions for reduction mammaplasty. Methods:. ChatGPT (OpenAI, February Version, San Francisco, Calif.) was used to query 20 common patient concerns that arise in the perioperative period of a reduction mammaplasty. Searches were performed in duplicate for both a general term and a specific clinical question. Query outputs were analyzed both objectively and subjectively. Descriptive statistics, t tests, and chi-square tests were performed where appropriate with a predetermined level of significance of P less than 0.05. Results:. From a total of 40 AI-generated outputs, mean word length was 191.8 words. Readability was at the thirteenth grade level. Regarding content, of all query outputs, 97.5% were on the appropriate topic. Medical advice was deemed to be reasonable in 100% of cases. General queries more frequently reported overarching background information, whereas specific queries more frequently reported prescriptive information (P < 0.0001). AI outputs specifically recommended following surgeon provided postoperative instructions in 82.5% of instances. Conclusions:. Currently available AI tools, in their nascent form, can provide recommendations for common perioperative questions and concerns for reduction mammaplasty. With further calibration, AI interfaces may serve as a tool for fielding patient queries in the future; however, patients must always retain the ability to bypass technology and be able to contact their surgeon.
ISSN:2169-7574