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CUTTING REMARKS
John D. Kelly IV, MD
The Shaver Trial
They came, we saw, we oscillated.
L
ast month our operating
room opened the door
for vendors to demonstrate their latest and greatest
arthroscopic shavers in order
to determine how they rated
against our current brand.
Each week I trialed a new
shaver for several surgeries.
The results of each trial were
eye-opening.
• Brand H (for horrible). The
NEW SHAVERS Nothing's more
fun than an arthroscopic shaver trial.
first vendor's shaver looked
like it was machined at Kmart. The controls were awkward and you
needed a PhD in biophysics to determine which button indicated
"oscillate." The shaver blade didn't fit our standard cannula. The
shaver worked so slowly I kept a diary. With each bit of feedback I
offered the salesman, I was met with the standard reply: "We can fix
that!" My response was, "When, before 2017?" Next!
• Brand B (for bland). The brand had all the excitement of a waffle
iron. It was slow (not glacial, but tidal) and heated up faster than an
IRA meeting. And metal shavings! There was more metal in the shoulder joint than in my mother's molars. The shaver handle was so big it
had a ZIP code. Despite this, the salesman continually assured me
that "we are working on some glitches." What if the entire device is
one big glitch? Next!
• Brand P (for pretty good). Finally, Brand P's chance came, and to my
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E O N L I N E | N O V E M B E R 2013
