Extract
Advancements in medical technology over the last several decades have
occurred at an incredible pace. In our specialty of orthopaedics, there are
numerous examples of rapid improvements in technology that have markedly
improved the care of our patients with musculoskeletal disorders. Arthroscopic
surgery is one such example. The field has made tremendous advancements from
several decades ago, when visualization alone was a challenge in arthroscopic
surgery, to today, when cruciate ligament surgery in the knee and rotator cuff
repair in the shoulder are routinely performed through the arthroscope. In
parallel with the explosion of new technology in orthopaedic surgery and
medicine has been the acceleration of information transfer throughout the
world. The Internet has become a tool that allows instantaneous distribution
of new information. In the field of medicine in general and orthopaedics
specifically, information received by the physician and potential patients may
be uncensored.