Kusadikika wrote:Even as you search for the best surgeon remember in the order of things surgeons are repairmen, the chief designer and engineer is up in heaven. Lift up your face and voice to Him to guide the outcome.
As an aside. How would numbers be of help? Supposing a surgeon Dr. A comes and tells you that he has performed 50 knee replacements in the last 10 years. 7 patients have since died. 43 are still alive and doing fine. 2 have had to have repeat surgeries after the their prostheses got infected. Another tells you he has performed 8 operations in the last 2 years. All the patients are alive and none has had any complications. Can you just at looking at the numbers tell who is the better surgeon? Supposing the wazuan who writes to you is the relative of the patient who got an infection and told you Dr. A is useless and then another wazuan tells you his mother got a knee replacement from the same Dr. A 10 years ago and her life has never been better.
In the above case you have to adjust for confounders; did the 7 cases die as a result of the knee replacement or it was another issue?! While i agree its a tricky thing to look at the numbers as the sole criteria of expected outcome of future surgeries,the more cases one does,the more lessons are learnt whether via positive or negative events and the more the surgeon becomes refined.
Just like some single malt whiskys which need an oak cask to mature for 15 years at the right temperatures,humidity,etc...if you vary the wood of the cask or any of the conditions you might end up with a sub or super optimal batch you will have learnt something...
Lastly,orthopedics to some extent is an art guided by science;ni kama fundi wa mbao. Practice perfects the art :)