ABOUT THIS SITE
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WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW MORE ?
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Studies demonstrated that patients who received thorough preoperative information have had
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than patients without such information.
MORE ABOUT THE PURPOSE OF THIS SITE
This site does not intend to replace the information you will receive from your surgeon.
This site presents unbiased information about total joints to interested people. Why?
Here follow some further reasons:
Smith&Nephew advert
With the rising numbers of new total joint models it is difficult to get objective information on them. Whereas the numbers of new total joint models increase steadily, reliable information on them is often lacking. For this illustration I used a picture of four quite different models of total hip joints (femoral components), all manufactured and advertised by one manufacturer. Do you have enough information to make intelligent choice among them?
(Scientific reports on results with these different models were published only for one model of all four depicted).
Inter-Op cup component, Sulzer
Biased information from the manufacturer Moreover, the manufacturer's information on new total joint models may be inaccurate. This picture demonstrates an advert for a new total hip model called Inter-Op. As the picture shows, the manufacturer promised "lifetime warranty" for this type of total hip joint.
Actually, this total hip model failed catastrophically early after surgery which eventually led to the demise of the manufacturing company from the market. The cause of failure was introduction of a new manufacturing process for production of this total hip model.
Curiously enough, although the massive failure occurred already in 2002, there is still no concise information about the dimensions of this catastrophe.
The VAC and Biomet Companies' Advertisements
The direct-to-patient information
on total joints is steadily increasing. This patient information through manufacturer means for some patients that the best cure for their joint problems is operation with the newest, "most fashionable" total joint device just being shown in news & media.
This direct-to-patient information may be biased and needs to be balanced by more objective and less glamorous information.
Obviously, there is a need for more unbiased information about total joints.
This website provides information on artificial joints for
- people who may have an artificial joint in the future
- people who are already enjoying an artificial joint
- people who wish to know more about
artificial joints
How reliable is the information on this website?
The information is provided on a "general" level, but some medical terms may still be difficult to comprehend. Usually, a short explanation is given when the term is used first time.
All information on this page is based on data published in current scientific journals. When possible, the author of information is cited in the text. The full citation of the journal appears In the References at the end of the Chapter.
If you wish to read this original information, go to the online site of The National Library of Medicine's Medline database: www.nlm.nih.gov, then select PubMed button, when there select Single Citation Matcher in the left column.
A form appears; fill up the author's name and the data on the Journal as provided in the References. The Medline will display an abstract of the paper and you can also buy a copy of the whole paper online.
Before you take any decision please read the Disclaimer
This website is part of a non-commercial project to investigate how patient information influences and improves the results of total joint operations. The quality of this website will improve by your feedback.
Contact us, please, whenever you have any idea how to improve this site.
© 2002 HB Valdemar Surin
last updated Sept 2007