Nice Hips: Shame about the Conclusions

Abstract

In April 2000 the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) issued their first appraisal in the field of surgery, “Guidance on the selection of prostheses for primary total hip replacement”. NICE has already been heavily criticised for its recommendations in the field of medicine, due to its perceived role in rationing healthcare. This paper examines the conclusions of the appraisal committee (which included only two orthopaedic surgeons), the evidence on which they drew their conclusions and the evidence that was overlooked. We conclude that it is not clear how they determined the important ten-year benchmark and that they over-emphasise the benefits of cheaper cemented prostheses, failing to fully consider the evidence for the more expensive uncemented and hybrid combinations.