Doctor Skeptic: Why placebo surgery is ethical, and necessary
open in this window or new window
PainSci notes
Placebo surgery: necessary, ethical? Yes! Here’s a fine short post on this topic from Doctor Skeptic (doctorskeptic.blogspot.com.au). You “need a placebo [surgery] trial when the outcomes are ‘soft’ (subjective: pain).” I’ve been arguing this for many, many years. We really need to compare surgeries for pain problems to shams, because, by golly, that method sure does reveal some useless surgeries. One of the best examples of why is Moseley’s fascinating 2002 knee trial.
~ Paul Ingraham, PainSci Publisher
Related Content
- Surgery: The ultimate placebo (book), by Ian Harris (book review).
- “The evidence on surgical interventions for low back disorders, an overview of systematic reviews,” Jacobs et al, European Spine Journal, 2013.
- “Sham Surgery in Orthopedics: A Systematic Review of the Literature,” Louw et al, Pain Med, 2016.
These two articles on PainScience.com cite this item as a source: