Seth S. Leopold, MD, has been doing surgery on patients with hip and knee arthritis—and those who have painful or problematic joint replacements of the hip and knee—for more than 20 years. In 2021, he stopped doing surgery, as most of his time now is spent as the editor-in-chief of a large international scientific journal (Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research).

In order to continue to serve patients with the clinical time he has available, he now focuses on helping patients make complicated decisions in a way that puts their values and interests front-and-center. Since he will not be the person performing the operation (if surgery turns out to be the patient’s choice), patients can trust the advice he gives.

The most-common questions he tries to help patients answer include:

• Is joint replacement right for me?
• How do the risks balance out against the rewards of joint replacement surgery?
• Have I overlooked potentially useful nonsurgical approaches or ways to adapt to my condition that can help me avoid the risk and time off associated with surgery?
• My joint replacement has not worked out as well as I’d hoped (it’s painful, it’s stiff, it dislocates or feels unstable, it’s infected, etc.); should I have another operation on it to try to make it better?

As the editor-in-chief of a leading international journal, he is current on the best-available evidence, which he uses to try to help patients arrive at choices that are consistent with their values. If you have questions about your arthritic hip or knee, or if you have a joint replacement that is bothering you and would like a second opinion about whether surgery would likely improve on what you have, he is happy to try to help. He seeks to strike a balance of education, empathy, and partnership that will best serve each individual whose life he is privileged to touch.