Multimedia patient education to assist the informed consent process for knee arthroscopy.

Background: In contemporary clinical practice, the ability for orthopaedic surgeons to obtain true 'informed consent' is becoming increasingly difficult. This problem has been driven by factors including increased expectations of surgical outcome by patients and increasing complexity of surgical procedures. Surgical pamphlets and computer presentations have been advocated as ways of improving patient education, but evidence of their efficacy is limited.

The effect of orthotic treatment on midfoot osteoarthritis assessed using specifically designed patient evaluation questionnaires.

Midfoot osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative condition of the foot that can be treated non-operatively by the use of orthotics. This prospective study was conducted to determine the effects of custom-made semi-rigid foot orthoses (FOs) and rigid carbon fibre (CF) footplates for the treatment of midfoot OA evaluated using specifically designed questionnaires. Fifty-seven subjects diagnosed with midfoot OA were recruited through a private clinic for inclusion in the study.