If we are to charge patients thousands of pounds more for robot assisted knee replacements, surely we need to establish their value first, argues Prof. Nick London. *Image shown for illustrative purposes only. Like any private surgery, a knee replacement is a significant investment for a patient. Without insurance, they’ll pay around £11,500 for aContinue Reading

Prof. Nick London explores a brief history of the mysterious anterolateral ligament. *Photo courtesy of OnlineLibrary Every now and again a story resurfaces about an as yet ill-defined ‘ligament’ (inverted commas definitely intended) which was, so the media was quick to announce, supposedly discovered by Belgian knee surgeons in 2013. It wasn’t. in fact, theContinue Reading

Prof. Nick London looks back at November’s skills enhancement masterclass in Birmingham. Despite the considerable weight of evidence supporting partial knee replacement (not least the flagship TOPKAT study which reported earlier this year), there remain many more knee surgeons experienced in total replacements than partial. As they review the supporting literature and National Joint RegistryContinue Reading

Prof. Nick London reflects on one study which gained lots of media attention recently. Cloudy with a chance of pain. If you’ve been an orthopaedic surgeon for any length of time (and it’s fair to say I’ve been doing this a while) you’ll have lost count of the number of people who tell you theirContinue Reading

Jon Smith looks at a new reporting procedure that clearly shows the knee surgeons delivering the best patient reported outcomes. Last month, my colleague Jim Newman looked at the future of wearable tech and its application to patient recovery. In his piece, Jim spoke about the more subjective elements of PROMS (patient reported outcome measures)Continue Reading

It could take months for all pain and discomfort to disappear following your knee replacement operation. Jon Smith wants to have an honest conversation about expectations… There is a perception amongst many patients that, following a knee replacement, they’ll be back to normal within a few weeks. Look at the stories of patients who hadContinue Reading

Glucosamine and chondroitin are sold as a way of slowing the deterioration of cartilage and relieving osteoarthritis pain. But do they really work? Jon Smith looks at the evidence. Walk into any health store or supermarket and in amongst the vitamins and minerals you’ll find glucosamine and chondroitin. They’ve been around for a couple ofContinue Reading

As almost 42% of US knee replacement patients say they expect to be home same day, Jon Smith asks whether patient perceptions in the US are likely to become expectations in the UK. We’ve spoken about same day knee replacement quite regularly on these pages. My colleague Dave Duffy reaffirmed the collective Yorkshire Knee ClinicContinue Reading

Jim Newman explores how technology is helping knee surgeons understand the one great mystery of patient recovery. There’s a problem with the traditional surgeon, physio, patient relationship. As my colleague Dave Duffy pointed out in his recent post, physio is an essential element of the recovery equation. Ahead of treatment (in so-called prehab) it preparesContinue Reading

What’s the issue with a diagnosis of runner’s knee? Jim Newman explains. Runner’s knee is a condition lots of people get, and which you see most often in young women. You don’t have to be a runner to get it. In fact, often the activity levels seem to bear little relation to who has theContinue Reading