Second opinions have the goal of clarifying uncertainties around diagnosis or management, particularly when healthcare decisions are complex, unpleasant, and carry considerable risks. Second opinions might be particularly useful for people recommended surgery for their back pain as surgery has at best a limited role [...]
Arthroscopic knee surgery remains a common treatment for symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, including for degenerative meniscal tears, despite guidelines strongly recommending against its use. This Cochrane Review is an update of a non‐Cochrane systematic review published in 2017.
Total hip and total knee replacement (THR/TKR) are common and effective surgeries to reduce the pain and disability associated with arthritis but are associated with small but significant risks of preventable complications such as surgical site infection (SSI) and venous-thrombo-embolism (VTE). This study aims to [...]
Trans Vaginal Mesh (TVM) surgeries have been used to treat stress urine incontinency (SUI) and/or pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Systematic reviews of clinical studies of outcomes suggest that the procedures have benefited a majority of women, while noting that a small minority of women have [...]
Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy (APM) is one the most common orthopedic surgical procedures. The most common indication for APM is a degenerative meniscal tear (DMT). High-quality evidence suggests that APM does not provide meaningful benefits in patients with DMTs and may even be harmful in the [...]
Health care itself contributes to climate change. Anesthesia is a “carbon hotspot,” yet few data exist to compare anesthetic choices. The authors examined the carbon dioxide equivalent emissions associated with general anesthesia, spinal anesthesia, and combined (general and spinal anesthesia) during a total knee replacement.
Medical procedures that don’t help the patient, overdiagnosis, the ‘medicalisation of normal’… two doctors argue that it has to stop.
The terms placebo effect, non-specific effects and contextual effects all refer to responses that are separate to the specific effects of surgery: the effect that results from the anatomical and physiological changes brought about by the surgical procedure. The specific surgical effect is best measured [...]
This study set out to summarise the proportion of consumer webpages on subacromial decompression and rotator cuff repair surgery that make an accurate portrayal of the evidence for these surgeries (primary outcome), mention the benefits and harms of surgery, outline alternatives to surgery, and make [...]
The authors of “Sham Surgery Studies in Orthopaedic Surgery May Just Be a Sham: A Systematic Review of Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trials” cast a critical eye on placebo surgical trials. We applaud any attempt to identify the methodologic limitations of scientific research and to ask researchers [...]