Neurosurgery Survival Guide ( NSG )

The NSG is a Neurosurgery medical app iPhone and Android. It is quick reference, high-yield guide that encompasses that massive breadth of knowledge and information necessary to care for neurosurgical patients. This is the ideal reference for all neurosurgical residents, interns, medical students and all other mid-level practitioners that will encounter and care for neurosurgical patients (Nurse practitioners NP, and Physician Assistants PA). Ideal for all people working the Neurointensive care units. There is a large section for common neurological conditions and is extremely useful for the neurology rotations.There are now over 100 unique topics covered in this guide.

The NSG has a built-in background auto-update program that allows the newly added content to be downloaded and refreshed each time the app is opened. What this means is an up to the minute ability to keep content current with the latest practice recommendations.

In the past decade, smartphone applications (or 'Apps') have experienced remarkable development across all fields of medicine, including neurosurgery. However, due to a lack of regulatory oversight and peer-review, there is a clear need for comprehensive review and audit of the existing available Apps.

In a study, Bergeron et al., aimed to systematically review existing mobile Apps in neurosurgery, evaluate their clinical use by neurosurgery residents in Canada, and perform a quality audit of the most popular Apps.

Indexed Apps were identified on either Google Play Store or the iOS App Store using a comprehensive list of keywords related to neurosurgery. A subsequent cross-sectional survey of 76 Canadian neurosurgery residents was conducted, including a section on smartphone application use. We then evaluated the most popular Apps among residents using the Healthcare Smartphone App Evaluation Tool (HSAET) and performed a quality audit of their content based on established medical references.

The survey identified 118 mobile Apps related to neurosurgery. The three most used Apps used by the current cohort of Canadian neurosurgery residents were Neurosurgery Survival Guide, Neuromind, and the Journal of Neurosurgery App. Each of these three Apps received an excellent score on the HSAET. A quality audit of 30 pages of the Neurosurgery Survival Guide and 40 clinical scores of the Neuromind App, performed by ten neurosurgery residents, failed to reveal inaccurate or false statements.

This study highlights the current landscape of neurosurgery mobile Apps and their use among neurosurgery residents ¹⁾.