Many operations could be unnecessary, says leading surgeon

Certain types of elective surgery only benefit patients because of placebo effect, says Prof Andy Carr

Thousands of people could be undergoing unnecessary, risky and expensive surgeries as most procedures have never been subjected to the rigorous testing drugs are required to have, a leading surgeon has said.

Prof Andy Carr, an orthopaedic surgeon at Oxford University Hospitals, said there is emerging evidence that for certain types of elective surgery, the benefits could be partly or entirely explained by patients' strong expectation that their symptoms would improve after treatment.