Current Debates in Surgery - A Cross Sectional Study amongst Indian Surgeons.

Surgery like all fields of medicine is evolving rapidly and these new techniques are challenging to replace the existing 'standard of care'. Though some of these advances are here to stay, many of them are driven by a handful of surgeons influenced by market forces. In some controversial topics, there is a problem of plenty and it is difficult for a general surgeon to choose from the various options available. In order to address some of these contentious issues, a cross sectional, questionnaire based study was designed. The questionnaire was posted to surgeons across the country and it included 11 questions (single best answer format) on the current debates in surgery. The questionnaire was answered by 778 surgeons and gave rise to interesting observations. The practice of surgery is an interplay of patient- surgeon and market forces and more comprehensive studies are required to address these controversial topics in surgery.