| Popis: |
Publisher Summary The most natural and direct way of assessing the results after a joint replacement procedure is in terms of the well-being of the patient. Another way of assessing the results after these procedures is by focusing on the longevity of the improvements. The introduction of artificial joints represented a significant step forward in the annals of surgery regarding the question of longevity; unlike any other kind of volume surgery in those days, joint replacement surgery depended on biomaterials. Large pieces of metal and polymers were introduced into the body and unlike living material, there is no biological turn-over. Instead biomaterials wear and eventually they wear out. This chapter discusses this second mode of assessment of results of joint replacement surgery. The commercial activities inherently connected with joint replacement surgery necessitate objective data. Competition in the market, both the manufacturing of implants as well the provision of the operative procedures at hospitals, creates pressures that need to be balanced. The public increasingly demands open and transparent assessment of overall results. The three modes of assessment, RSA, RCT and Registry, are likely to become more established into one clinical package in the future, representing an introductory pathway that new implants would have to walk. |
