Medical litigation and intense external pressure create a unique and challenging environment for orthopedic surgeons caring for professional athletes.
Orthopedic surgeons who operate on professional athletes practice in a unique environment. They must make time-sensitive decisions—often under intense external pressure and scrutiny from athletes, teams, player agents, and commercial stakeholders—while caring for injuries that are sometimes career-ending and are very often career-altering. Despite adherence to evidence-based medicine and accepted standards of care, adverse outcomes and complications can occur.
D’Hooghe et al. (Mon,) conducted a editorial in Orthopedic injuries in professional athletes. Medical litigation and intense external pressure create a unique and challenging environment for orthopedic surgeons caring for professional athletes.