Trust and Trustworthiness in Robotic Surgery: A Narrative Review.

Robotic surgery is a field that continues to see rapid expansion and increasing levels of surgical robot autonomy. Establishing trust and trustworthiness in this context is vital for the development of successful human-robot relationships, within surgical teams, and to facilitate wider public acceptance. There is little understood or known about trust in robotic surgery, likely due to the fragmented state of the current literature. This review aims to bring together studies highlighting human-robot and human-human trust in robotic surgery, specifically looking at human-, robot-, and contextual- factors that contribute to trust establishment, whilst also discussing trends and disagreements in the limited literature. The review will conclude by highlighting relevant gaps and limitations, consequently proposing recommendations for future research and policymaking.