October 2001 Bulletin

Website is link to peer reviewed patient material

By Stephen Conrad, MD

In this era of complexity and technological breakthroughs, the physician-patient relationship needs help. As orthopaedists, we are allowed less time for patient care and expected to accomplish more for reduced cost. Fortunately, AAOS members have a resource, which, if used properly, can assist in this seemingly impossible quest. This resource, Your Orthopedic Connection (http://orthoinfo.aaos.org), is available to you and your patients.

Your Orthopaedic Connection contains 350 patient information fact sheets, brochures and booklets that are available for download. Topics cover all areas of musculoskeletal care, including treatment and prevention. The site can be used in several ways to supplement the physician-patient relationship.

• Information can be downloaded and printed in your office. The information sheets can then be dispensed to your patients for later review at home.
• Patients seeking more knowledge about their illness can be referred to the site as a reliable source for information.
• The information can be used, in part, as an informed consent prior to surgery.

An informed patient is the best patient. The American public is using the Internet more than ever before and health care is a prime topic. There is a great deal of misinformation on the Internet, but all the documents on Your Orthopedic Connection have been reviewed and approved by orthopaedic surgeons.

Your Orthpaedic Surgeons has had 2 million page views of documents since its inception in March 2000.

Your Orthopaedic Connection is being continually expanded. You should visit it often to see if there are documents that would be helpful for your patients. Here’s a list of documents that have been added in recent months in categories around the figure of a human skeleton on the main page of Your Orthopaedic Connection.

Foot/leg
Burning thigh pain (meralgia paresthetica)
Muscle strains in the thigh
Thighbone fracture

Hand
DeQuervain’s tendinitis
Hand surgery
Nerve injuries
Replantation
Reflex sympathetic dystrophy

Hip
Hip strains
Inflammatory arthritis of the hip
Snapping hip

Knee
Cemented and cementless knee replacement
Knee implants
Rotating platform/mobile-bearing knees

Neck
Cervical spondylosis

Pediatrics
Coping with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis
Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis

Shoulder
Arthritis of the shoulder
Fracture of the shoulder blade
Shoulder joint replacement

Spine
Cauda equina syndrome
Fracture of the thoracic and lumbar spine
You will find more documents in the general infomation drop-down box.

About Orthopaedics
Compartment syndrome

Sports
Importance of physical activity for persons with mental retardation:
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