Surgical Outcomes
Surgical Outcomes
The outcome (result) of a surgical procedure is dependent on several factors, some related to the patient, some related to the surgeon and some related to the environment and post-operative care.
Regarding the patient, the result can be influenced by the baseline knee function i.e. how good/bad the knee was to start with and various patient characteristics e.g. smoking, weight, general health. With regard to the surgeon, the timing of certain surgical procedures, the type of procedure / implant choice and how precisely it is performed can all have a significant effect. In addition, the availability of adequate post-operative rehabilitation and enthusiasm of the patient to engage is often paramount.
Surgical outcomes are generally recorded in large databases (Registries). Following the Governmental response to both the Paterson Inquiry and Cumberlege Report in 2020, every implant that is placed within a patient should be recorded on a central Registry (Medical Device Outcome Registry). This is still being established and will incorporate the National Joint Registry (focal, partial and total knee replacements) and the National Ligament Registry (ACL reconstruction). Whether or not the survivorship and performance of the implant is correlated to the most important thing, patient reported factors again is awaited.
