Medical devices may not offer equal value

NEW HAVEN, Conn., Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Innovative medical devices may not offer equal value in all patients, say researchers at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn.

First author Dr. Lisa G. Suter, an assistant professor of internal medicine at Yale School of Medicine, and colleagues used a mathematical model to simulate the consequences of undergoing total knee replacement for end-stage knee osteoarthritis with both standard and innovative implants.

Knee osteoarthritis is a frequent and costly cause of disability in the United States and worldwide, Suter said.

The research team used the Osteoarthritis Policy Model, a computer simulation model of knee osteoarthritis natural history and management, to project life expectancy and implant survival after using standard and innovative implants.

The simulations were used for both young and older total knee replacement recipients, including some with illnesses and some without.

The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found older patients or those with multiple co-existing conditions may not live long enough to benefit from small, incremental gains in the durability of the implant.