Editorial Comment

Abstract

It is an exciting and challenging time to be an orthopaedic surgeon. There are many challenges facing our profession, including decreased reimbursements, complex documentation requirements, regulatory restrictions, and increased litigation concerns. We also desire to provide improved patient safety and obtain ever-improved patient satisfaction. The tools now available to surgeons to help achieve these goals are diverse and are increasingly complicated. This symposium will evaluate some of the latest technologic advances available. The wide adoption of computers in surgery has been slow compared with that in other industries. The use of computer technology in orthopaedic surgery is gaining wider popularity as the surgeon is able to better leverage the power of the equipment to better care for patients. These technologies can be divided into several broad subgroups, including data management, preoperative and postoperative planning and evaluation, and intraoperative tools. Data management, including outcomes tracking and practice management, has the widest use and longest history in orthopaedic surgery, and most of the important clinical studies have used database methods to organize patient information. The collection of such data in the future will be substantially more difficult with the implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations. Preoperative and postoperative evaluation and planning has had an increasing role with the increasingly wide use of digital imaging. In the hospital setting, electronic imaging systems facilitate access to and evaluation of radiographs, MRI scans, and CT scans. Additionally, software templating and measurement overlays make objective evaluation easier for the surgeon. Tools such as image guidance and intraoperative registration have provided surgeons with a relatively new method of improving the accuracy of surgical techniques. In addition, the ability to determine accurately bony positions without direct observation will enable surgeon innovators to develop less invasive procedures that were not possible previously. Because computer technology has such a rapid evolutionary cycle, the equipment and software discussed in these articles most likely will have changed even between their writing and publication. Therefore, the goal of this issue on computers in orthopaedic surgery is not to provide a comprehensive review of the topic or of specific types of techniques and equipment, but to provide a representative review of many of the important areas in the interface between computers and orthopaedic surgery. The concept of how such technology can improve patient care is the paramount goal. James F. Wenz Sr., MD Brett M. Andres, MD Baltimore, MD

Ähnliche Arbeiten