ReviewBrain & spine2026
Ethical issues in neurosurgery - A scoping review from the EANS Ethico-legal committee.
Review in Brain & spine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Coping strategies of neurosurgeons in response to major surgical complications: A nationwide questionnaire assessment in Germany.Brain & spine · 2026Article
- Re: Ethical issues in neurosurgery - A scoping review from the EANS ethico-legal committee. Brain Spine 2026: 105946.Brain & spine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Ethical considerations are integral to neurosurgical decision-making, yet emerging technologies, demographic shifts, and global crises continuously introduce new challenges. Key ethical concerns include patient autonomy, prioritization, the value of life, research ethics, and personality-altering procedures. Despite their importance, formal ethics training for neurosurgical residents is often lacking, and guideline application remains inconsistent. This scoping review summarizes current literature on ethical issues in neurosurgery, identifies key topics and assessment methods, and highlights research priorities to enhance ethical awareness. Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted in Medline, Embase, and Web of Science using the search strategy (Ethic∗[Title]) AND (neurosurg∗[Title]). The search, performed on October 8, 2024, yielded 334 records (1985-2024). After removing duplicates and screening, 13 studies met inclusion criteria. Two independent reviewers selected original research in English or German addressing ethical neurosurgical issues, excluding opinion pieces, reviews, and case reports. Extracted data included study characteristics, country, year, topic, design, and key findings. Results: From a neurosurgical perspective, six ethical subcategories emerged: decision-making (31 %), pediatric neurosurgery (23 %), neurosurgery in developing countries (15 %), artificial intelligence (15 %), functional neurosurgery (8 %), and patient care (8 %). From a classical ethical standpoint, seven studies (53.8 %) focused on psychosocial ethical issues, four (30.7 %) examined normative ethical questions, and two (15.4 %) addressed aspects of professional ethics. All studies employed a qualitative research design. Most studies (77 %) used questionnaires or structured interviews for data collection. Findings revealed regional differences in ethical decision-making, increasing reliance on hospital ethics committees, resource-related dilemmas in low-income countries, and emerging AI-related concerns. Despite growing interest, structured assessment methods and standardized ethics education remain limited. Conclusions: Ethical challenges in neurosurgery, as explored through the lenses of indirect sources (published literature), are diverse and shaped by technological advancements and sociopolitical factors. AI-related ethics and crisis-driven dilemmas, such as those arising from wars and pandemics, are gaining attention. However, research methodologies remain inconsistent, limiting data comparability. Future studies should focus on enhancing ethics training and developing standardized frameworks for ethical analysis improving neurosurgical ethical decision-making.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.