Pillar Three: Maintaining Complete Documentation

Abstract

From the outset, AO members were committed to documenting all of their cases and, thus, enshrined this commitment in the AO by-laws. Members were required to make a copy of each case available to other members. The by-laws further stated that members must document their own Osteosynthesis, according to common guidelines; record the cases in such a way that they could be analyzed statistically; grant all other members access to their documentation, while at the same time be granted access to all of their fellow AO colleagues’ documentation. At that time, when surgeons were eager to talk about their successes while also keeping a lid on their failures, this represented a far-reaching commitment among members.