Are docs 'Choosing Wisely'? (Chicago Tribune)
Too many surgeons operate on fractured collarbones rather than letting them heal with the help of a sling, said Dr. Augusto Sarmiento, a retired surgeon.
Challenged to list several questionable procedures that are commonly used in their field, America's joint surgeons came out against custom shoe inserts and two types of dietary supplements.
They also discouraged the long-term use of wrist splints after carpal tunnel surgery and an infrequently performed procedure in which doctors wash a painful knee joint with saline.
These choices share one thing: None would significantly affect a surgeon's income.
"They could have chosen many surgical procedures that are commonly done, where evidence has shown over the years that they don't work or where they're being done with no evidence," said Dr. James Rickert, an assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at Indiana University. "They chose stuff of no material consequence that nobody really does."
As part of the nationally touted Choosing Wisely campaign, 54 medical specialty societies have each offered recommendations of at least five tests or procedures that doctors and patients should approach...
