Topic: The AI Revolution in Metabolic Surgery: A New Era Begins

The digital era - marked by the sophisticated and ever-evolving interaction between surgeons and artificial intelligence (AI) - is reshaping multiple surgical disciplines and specialties, including Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (MBS). This Special Issue of Metabolism & Target Organ Damage (M&TOD) focuses on recent advancements in MBS and the care of patients affected by obesity and its related comorbidities. AI is already transforming multiple stages of MBS care, from preoperative counseling and intraoperative decision making to the postoperative optimization of enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) protocols. With AI integration, metabolic and bariatric surgeons - alongside allied healthcare professionals - can enhance patient assessment, risk stratification, counseling, and prehabilitation efforts for individuals preparing to undergo MBS. This issue introduces the latest research and developments in this rapidly advancing field. We are witnessing the dawn of a new era in MBS - one characterized by collaboration, interaction, and shared decision making between humans and AI, all aimed at improving patient outcomes.

This Special Issue covers, but is not limited to, the following topics:

● Metabolic and bariatric surgery;

● Obesity and metabolic diseases;

● Metabolic syndrome;

● Artificial intelligence and patient prehabilitation;

● Artificial intelligence and intraoperative decision making;

● Artificial intelligence and ERAS;

● Robotic metabolic and bariatric surgery;

● Endobariatric therapies;

● Laparoscopic metabolic and bariatric surgery;

We warmly encourage submissions that explore these and other emerging topics in this dynamic and transformative field.