北京大学泌尿外科研究所名誉所长、中国泌尿外科学唯一的中国工程院院士郭应禄表示“肖传国的这个手术在道理上也能讲得通，但不是所有的病人(的神经)都能接得上的，而且你得能找得到神经才能接”，郭应禄说，“所以，就算他说得对，能起作用也是有限制的。”
Guo Yinglu, the honorary director of the Institute of Urosurgery at Peking University and the only Academian on Urosurgery in Chinese Academy of Engineering, commented that, “It makes some sense in the theory of the Xiao procedure. But not for all the patients can it achieve nerve reconnection, and you can only do this when you are able to find the nerve”. Guo said, “So, it means that even if he (Xiao) is correct, the effectiveness (of the procedure) is limited”.
武警总医院病理科主任纪小龙也表示，神经愈合至今仍是医学上的一个难题，“神经是很难长在一起的。打个比方，每根神经就像电话线，里面有好多分支，只有每一根分支都对上了，它才能长好。而现有的任何显微手术都做不到这点，只能靠两根神经自己去找，手术能否成功存在偶然因素。”
Dr. Ji Xiaolong, director of Pathology at the General Hospital of Chinese Armed Police Forces, said that the healing of nerves remains a big challenge in medical field. “It’s hard for nerve to grow into one piece. Imagine that each nerve is like a telephone cable with many contacts in it. Only when every contact is connected, can we say it is healed. But current technique in any microscopic surgery can’t achieve this point but leaving the two nerve stumps searching for each other (for reconnecting), this procedure involves uncertainty”.
“我是专门研究神经再生的，我认为这种想法根本就是无稽之谈。”中日友好医院神经外科主任于炎冰告诉北京科技报，先天性脊柱裂利用常规的手术也就是解栓手术，术后的成功率可以达到50%到70%，而这个“肖式反射弧”技术原理就是让重新连接后的中枢神经再生，但是想要使中枢神经再生基本上没有可能。因为一个器官它是由很多条神经共同支配的，如何寻找到与器官控制相对应的神经其实非常困难，如果接错或破坏了原有的神经，手术后的结果可能会导致想恢复的功能没有恢复，而原来的功能也会受到影响。
“My research focuses on the regeneration of nerves. I don't believe that this idea makes any sense”. Yu Yanbing, director of Neurosurgery of China-Japan Friendship Hospital, told Beijing 科技报, that the standard surgical procedure for congenital spina bifida is detethering, which has a success rate of 50%~70%. The mechanism of Xiao procedure is said to regenerate the rerouted central nerves, but it is basically impossible to regenerate the central nerves. An organ is under an integrated control of multiple nerves and it is extremely difficult to find out those that control a specific organ. If you make a wrong connection or damage the original nerve, the surgery may compromise the residual function of the organ, without the intended recovery.