Case and commentary: Peer-reviewed article

What begins as a surgical improvisation needed during one specific case could later be considered an innovation that warrants widespread adoption. An improvisation only becomes an innovation if it is carefully refined and developed to the point at which it becomes a reliable, reproducible, standardized procedure. This process can take years. This article draws on a case to walk a reader through key ethically and clinically important questions along the path of developing what might eventually come to be called an important surgical innovation.