title: [The value of long-term results for quality control].
abstract: Quality control is as important today as always. In orthopaedic surgery this largely means follow-up of patients. Long-term thinking and planning need long-term outcome studies, since orthopaedic therapy, especially an operation, has lifelong consequences. It is essential to know whether these are better or worse than the natural course of the disease. An operation is not always the best solution. Long-term and short-term continuous control are equally important; both have to be done despite of great practical difficulties. The assessment must become more patient-related than technique-related. Prospective studies cannot provide quick long-term answers; retrospective studies are needed, too. Political aspects complicate the issue. They are also addressed in this paper.
authors.affiliation: Orthopädische Universitätsklinik Basel.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Morscher
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009985:Orthopedics / Q000592:standards*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative
vernacular_title: Stellenwert der Langzeitergebnisse für die Qualitätskontrolle.