England’s surgery purge
England’s National Health Service does not want to keep paying for many surgeries that are probably useless for many patients. The musculoskeletal “repairs” on the chopping block?
- Knee arthroscopies for osteoarthritis
- Injections for non-specific back pain
- Removal of bone spurs for shoulder pain
- Carpal tunnel syndrome release
- Dupuytren’s contracture release
- Trigger finger release
Only the carpal tunnel syndrome release is any kind of surprise to me, but it’s also not a topic I know much about. I suspect that if I’d studied CTS the way I’ve studied some of these other conditions, my surprise would quickly evaporate. As with all chronic pain, the longer things go on the better than chance that the main problem is no longer an issue in the tissue, but a lowered threshold for pain.