We wholeheartedly agree that a yearly review of registries may be constructive. Dr. Sarmiento suggests an annual publication summarizing peer-reviewed articles and the opportunity for orthopedists to decide for themselves what treatments to choose based on reports from independent investigators. Although this sounds feasible, it would be difficult to decide which articles should be selected as pertinent for this type of publication. Any selection would be biased, and not all studies with high-level evidence are necessarily important or relevant. Therefore, selecting what is most appropriate to cite is not without its difficulties. We appreciate that there are problems in standardizing data reporting among registries. However, to improve interregistry collaboration, the US Food and Drug Administration is sponsoring the International Consortium of Orthopaedic Registries (ICOR) to facilitate data presentation.19 ICOR aims to increase cooperation, standardize analyses, and improve reporting, which will only strengthen the data available to us. Such efforts will ultimately enhance coordination and international collaboration among registries.15 In addition, incorporating patient-reported outcomes into our national registry will aid in quantifying arthroplasty outcomes from the patient’s perspective and will continue to improve total joint arthroplasties.20
Overall, this debate is useful and highly relevant in highlighting potential issues with registries. Although registries are not without their flaws, like all aspects of orthopedics they are ever evolving, and they must be continually modified and improved. However, disregard for the potential value of AJRR, which has benefits for orthopedists and patients alike, is premature. Once again, we thank Dr. Sarmiento for starting this discussion, which will allow us to continue to evaluate and improve our registries.
