Assessment of surgical innovation

In general, progress in surgery depends on experience in the care of patients, accurate record keeping, reflection on the experience, structuring of subsequent clinical experience, and, finally, honest and effective reporting of the results to the surgical community. Often, it takes years before new concepts are accepted, and there are many examples of how the best innovations are greeted with envy and skepticism [1]. In 1805, the first effective lighting system for endoscopy invented by Philippe Bozzini was rejected by the medical faculty of Vienna which defined the new discovery as the “magic lantern” [2].