We found an exponential increase in studies addressing surgical applications for 3D printing since 2011, with the largest growth in craniofacial, oromaxillofacial, and cardiothoracic specialties. Data was manually extracted from the 168 included studies. PubMed was searched for studies that addressed the clinical application of 3D printing in all surgical fields, yielding 442 results.
It is important to learn how 3D printing has been used in surgery and how to potentially apply this technology. The profound utility of this technology in surgery explains the exponential growth. It has been used to print patient-specific anatomic models, implants, prosthetics, external fixators, splints, surgical instrumentation, and surgical cutting guides. This technology has been adapted to a wide range of surgical applications at an impressive rate. Three dimensional (3D) printing involves a number of additive manufacturing techniques that are used to build structures from the ground up.
