[Minimally invasive gastrointestinal surgery in "midlife crisis"]

The term "midlife crisis" was first described in the 1930s by the Swiss psychologist Jung Carl Gustav. He found that although many middle-aged people already had a successful career and a stable family, the crisis of values and beliefs started to appear. If the minimally invasive surgery was a person, he would be 30 years old since 1987 when the first laparoscopic cholecystectomy was successfully performed in the world, and he would be gradually entering the "middle-aged phase", of which the "midlife crisis" is shown as follows: the surgical technique is basically established. Although there are continuous improvements and innovations of surgical techniques, they are only gradual innovations essentially. How can we recognize ourselves and overcome this crisis successfully? Technological change is always spiraling upward, irreversibly, and getting better. Minimally invasive surgical techniques may continue for more than one hundred years. But in the process of the pursuit of minimally invasive surgical techniques development, we should never forget to remain true to our original aspiration, from beyond the technical level to examine the development of technology, because the need of diagnosis and treatment and the quality of life of patients is our ultimate concern. No matter how technology evolves, the patient is always the first. Only with such an original intention can we move forward bravely and overcome the "midlife crisis" in technology.