AARP magazine: 4 Surgeries to Avoid

The July/August issue of AARP magazine features a column on “Reasons to think twice before going under the knife.”

The column’s preamble states:

“The following four operations are overperformed for a variety of reasons: Some are moneymakers for hospitals and doctors, others are expedient, and still others seem to work, at least in the short term. But evidence shows that all have questionable long-term outcomes for treating certain conditions, and some may even cause harm.”

The four they list are:

1. stents for stable angina

2. complex spinal fusion for stenosis

3. hysterectomy for uterine fibroids

4. knee arthroscopy for osteoarthritis

Comments

allan jones posted on July 5, 2011 at 10:36 am

aarp is a rip off and a great supporter of obamacare and i therefore have no use for this subversive organization…

ed krzykwa posted on July 21, 2011 at 4:03 pm

i don’t understand why aarp articles repeatedly ignore chiropractic care. chiropractic has saved me from numerous medical interventions. three hospitals in two states and it was a doctor of chiropractic that saved my life. you are missing the boat when all health professions are not given fair research.

Thomas posted on November 14, 2011 at 12:56 am

Good information, thanks Gary. Another one that a family member was convinced to have is a gallbladder removal. Although generally a lot less traumatic than open surgery, the laparoscopy method is used in most gallbladder removals (an increase of 40% since the advent of laparoscopy), there are still major potential risks. Unintentional cutting of the bile duct, which could result in permanent liver damage, happens in 1 to 2 % of laparoscopies.