By Takashi Kashiwa, MD

As an orthopedic surgeon, I always think about conservative and operative treatments for curing a patient. I tend to think operation is more superior than conservative treatment, in part because I want to perform operations. If conservative treatment is enough for curing a patient, operative treatment may become over-treatment.

I always pay attention to the balance between conservative and operative treatments, and to avoid an arbitrary decision for operative treatment. When I am confused about treatment plans, I always think, “Would I perform operation if this patient were my family or me?”.

Recently, I like conservative treatment as much as I like operative treatment. Because I found conservative treatment (e.g. casting, manual reduction maneuver, etc.) also requires the skilled techniques that operative treatment does.