A study published online in The Journal of Arthroplasty examines factors linked to surgeon preference for certain total knee arthroplasty (TKA) devices and techniques. 

The authors conducted a multi-national survey of 347 TKA-performing orthopaedic surgeons regarding surgeon preference in TKA, including self-assigned utility of preferred prosthesis, reasons to alter usual preference, and barriers to permanently changing preference. They found that the highest rated of 17 attributes were "reproducibility of outcome," "best functional outcome," and "better kinematics." Lowest rated attributes included a "key-opinion leader or mentor uses it" and "new or innovative." The authors note that "lowest revision risk" ranked 10th overall, with 19.9 percent of respondents stating it did not influence their preference. Overall, the authors found that 52.1 percent of surgeons were not influenced by cost, while 33.7 percent of surgeons agreed that their institution or system limited their preference. Learn more...

Editor Note: So if key-opinion leaders or academic mentors do not  influene use then why do implant companies retain these individuals? I am not aware of any comparative trials showing better functional outcome with one TKA implant compared to another are you? I would argue that responding orthopaedic surgeons in this study are not aware of their own bias towards why they use specific implants. Thoughts?