PhD defence F.W. (Floyd) van de Graaf

Currently, the primary way to reproduce the course of a surgical procedure is by way of the operative report, describing the most important events that transpire during surgery. The content of this however is determined by the person transcribing it, and therefore subject to omission and error. In this thesis, we identified quality factors in abdominal surgery, with laparoscopic colorectal surgery and laparoscopic cholecystectomy as focal point, that might benefit from use of intraoperative video and audio recording. Furthermore, we explored important legal, ethical and technical issues, as well as the views of healthcare professionals involved in said recordings, which might form a barrier for implementation of this novel technique.

Due to corona, the PhD defences do not take place publicly in the usual way in the Senate Hall or in the Professor Andries Querido Room. The candidates will defend their dissertation either in a small group or online.