Success and Failure Rates

How Do We Get Coverage for Orthobiologics? The Problem With Assigning Success Rates to Specific Orthopedic Surgeries

How has Regenexx been able to get more than a thousand US employers to cover interventional orthobiologic (IO) procedures? One of the ways is to perform analyses of how IO procedures can help their employees avoid surgery, save them money, and reduce their time out of work. Today we’ll explore just one little piece of…read more

The Evidence Supporting Common Orthopedic Surgeries Is AWFUL

I’ve been blogging on the evidence base behind orthopedic surgery for years and I’ve taken HUGE amounts of flak from a handful of orthopedic surgeons who don’t like my approach. Now a new British Medical Journal study confirms what I’ve been saying for the last decade-plus, common orthopedic surgeries have embarrassingly poor evidence, highlighting the…read more

Knee Replacement Failures in the News

Most patients believe that a knee replacement is like replacing a worn out or broken part in your car. However, these past few years news stories have begun to appear that show the reality of what’s really happening in patients. Let’s dig in. Danette’s Story This appeared in the Washington Post about a woman with…read more

What is Intersection Syndrome?

Intersection syndrome is a diagnosis that’s given to patients with a painful condition of the forearm and wrist. What causes this problem? How is it diagnosed? Can it be treated? If so, how? What is Intersection Syndrome? Intersection syndrome is defined by pain on the back thumb side of the wrist. This can occur in…read more

Is Nonsurgical Treatment for Rotator Cuff Tears a Long-Term Solution?

In today’s modern world, if you’re middle-aged and feel a sudden stabbing pain in your shoulder and then it continues to ache, you get an MRI. If that shoulder study shows a big enough rotator cuff tear, you’re quickly spirited off to surgery. However, what would happen if you never had the surgery? Would it…read more

Interdigital Wasting in Seattle Fixed with Platelet Lysate

We all seem to take our feet for granted. I know I do. However, this is where our body meets the ground, and, consequently, they’re pretty important. Since you likely don’t notice your feet, you may be surprised to learn that there are muscles that live there. As we age, some of us will lose…read more

Cervical Disc Replacement Complications: Metal Ions

We ended the 20th century with the idea that we could cut out parts of a person, like a joint or a disc, and insert metal and achieve great things. Then reality got in the way, in that studies began to show that these metal or plastic or ceramic parts wear down and those particles…read more

Pain in Base of Thumb: Convincing a Skeptic

More than a year ago I was lecturing at a medical conference, and a woman who was a stem cell scientist approached me. While some scientists usually don’t like physicians using stem cells, this one had pain in the base of the thumb and asked if I could help. I just received an e-mail back from her,…read more