|
| Question |
|
| 1 | How many years have you been a consultant? |
|
| 2 | Do you perform anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions? |
|
| 3 | Approximately how many ACL reconstructions do you perform each month? |
|
| 4 | How long have you been performing ACL reconstructions? |
|
| 5 | How successful do you rate patellar tendon ACL reconstructions? (e.g., the patient being able to return to physical activities without experiencing another injury to the reconstructed ACL) |
|
| 6 | How successful do you rate hamstring ACL reconstructions? (e.g., the patient being able to return to physical activities without experiencing another injury to the reconstructed ACL) |
|
| 7 | How successful do you rate quadriceps ACL reconstructions? (e.g., the patient being able to return to physical activities without experiencing another injury to the reconstructed ACL) |
|
| 8 | Are you familiar with tissue engineering as future clinic therapy? (Definition of tissue engineering: To grow autologous tissue in vitro in order to replace damaged body parts.) |
|
| 9 | If tissue engineering an ACL for the patient were an option (either through the NHS or privately), would you consider using a newly developed tissue-engineered ACL? (If it had shown mechanical and biological success in vitro and in vivo) |
|
| 10 | If an autologous tissue were tissue-engineered in the laboratory, what time limit would you see as acceptable from the moment the patients cells were harvested to the moment the engineered ACL was ready for implantation? |
|
| 11 | If you were to hypothetically use a tissue-engineered ACL, would you be concerned about the successful integration of the engineered ACL into the bone? |
|
| 12 | An engineered ACL could be an exact match to the native ACL. Do you feel that this would be more appropriate for implantation than a hamstring, quadriceps, or patellar tendon (which are only similar in tissue type to the ACL and not an exact match)? |
|
| 13 | Approximately how long on average does your current treatment strategy for ACL replacement take (a) regarding operation length (b) regarding full recovery time with no pain |
|
| 14 | Do you think it is likely that some patients would prefer to wait to receive a tissue-engineered ACL from their own cells, rather than receiving the current surgical ACL reconstruction using their own patellar tendon/hamstring tendon/quadriceps tendon? |
|
| 15 | With respect to tissue engineering |
| (a) Do you believe that using a tissue-engineered ligament would produce less scarring? Donor site scarring (e.g. patellar tendon, hamstring, quadricep), implant site scarring, skin scarring as a result from donor tissue harvest? |
| (b) Do you believe that using a tissue-engineered ligament would take less surgical time? |
| (c) By how much would surgical time need to be reduced for you to consider it to be a significant improvement? |
| (d) Do you believe that using a tissue-engineered ligament would give patients a shorter full recovery time? |
| (e) By how much would recovery time need to be reduced for you to consider it to be a significant improvement? |
| (f) Do you believe that using a tissue-engineered ligament would give recovering patients reduced pain or recurring injuries? |
|
| 16 | Currently ACL reconstructions cost £2,061 (NHS) and £3,500-£5,000 (privately). If a tissue-engineered construct cost more than your current procedure (for instance, up to twice the amount) but significantly improved the patient's satisfaction (resolution of instability/mobility/strength), would you consider using this technique? |
|
| 17 | Any other personal suggestions? For example, what do you see as an advantage/disadvantage regarding using tissue-engineered constructs? Do you see a need to improve current surgical techniques? |
|
