title: Attitudes and beliefs about placebo surgery among orthopedic shoulder surgeons in the United Kingdom.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To survey surgeons on their beliefs and attitudes towards the use of placebo in surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  British orthopedic shoulder surgeons, attending a national conference in the United Kingdom, were asked to complete a self-report online questionnaire about their beliefs and attitudes towards the use of placebo related to surgical intervention. The survey included questions about ethical issues, the mechanism of placebo effects, and any concerns regarding its use.
  
  
  RESULTS
  100 surgeons who participated in the survey believed that placebo surgery is ethically acceptable (96%), especially as a part of a clinical trial (46%). Respondents thought that a placebo effect in surgery is real i.e. has a scientific basis (92%), that placebo can be therapeutically beneficial (77%), and that it involves psychological mechanisms (96%). Over half of the respondents (58%) have used a surgical procedure with a significant placebo component at least once in their professional career. Their main concern about placebo use in surgery was that it might involve an element of deception.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Surgeons generally agreed that a placebo component to surgical intervention might exist. They also supported placebo use in clinical trials and considered it ethical, providing it does not involve deception of patients. More studies are needed, particularly among other surgical specialties and with larger numbers of participants, to better understand the use of placebo in surgery.
authors.affiliation: Botnar Institute of Musculoskeletal Sciences, Nuffield Department of Orthopedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Karolina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wartolowska
authors.affiliation: Botnar Institute of Musculoskeletal Sciences, Nuffield Department of Orthopedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Beard
authors.affiliation: Botnar Institute of Musculoskeletal Sciences, Nuffield Department of Orthopedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Carr
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009985:Orthopedics; D015990:Placebo Effect; D012782:Shoulder / Q000601:surgery*; D013043:Specialties, Surgical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom