Terms & Conditions

Please read this agreement carefully before using the website. By accessing or using the website, you agree that you are competent and of age to enter into this Agreement and to be bound by the terms and conditions below. If you do not wish to be bound by these terms and conditions, you should not access or use the website.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (collectively “AAOS”) present the information on this website as an educational service to the public and to our members. While the information on this site is about health care issues and orthopaedic surgery, it is not medical advice. People seeking specific orthopaedic advice or assistance should contact an orthopaedic surgeon through the AAOS’s "Find an Orthopaedist" program on the website or from another source.

Although we believe the information on this site to be accurate and timely, because of the rapid advances in the field of orthopaedic surgery and our reliance on information provided by outside sources, we make no warranty or guarantee concerning the accuracy or reliability of the content at this site or other sites to which we link. When clinical matters are discussed on this website, the opinions presented are those of the discussants only. The material discussed on the website is not intended to present the only or necessarily the best orthopaedic method or procedure, but rather presents the approach or opinion of the discussant.

This website and the information, software and other material available on or accessible from this website is provided on an "as is” and "as available” basis without warranties of any kind, expressed or implied, including but not limited to warranties of title, non infringement or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The AAOS does not warrant that the website service will be uninterrupted or error free or that any information, software or other material available on or accessible through the website is free of viruses, worms, trojan horses or other harmful components.

Under no circumstances shall the AAOS be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, punitive or consequential damages that result in any way from your use of or inability to use this website, your reliance on or use of the information, services or merchandise provided on or through this website, or that result from mistakes, omissions interruptions, deletion of files, errors, defects, delays in operation, or transmission or any failure of performance. The AAOS specifically disclaims any and all liability for injury and/or other damages that result from an individual using techniques discussed on the website, whether a physician or any other person asserts these claims.

You are granted a personal, revocable, limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access and use the OrthoInfo website conditioned on your continued acceptance of, and compliance with, these Terms of Use. You may use the OrthoInfo website and content for personal use, patient education and/or to supplement patient electronic medical records, and for no other purpose. The AAOS reserves the right to bar, restrict or suspend any user's access to OrthoInfo website, and/or to terminate this license at any time for any reason. The AAOS reserves any rights not explicitly granted in these Terms of Use.

The AAOS has a process for handling copyright infringement claims for material posted on the website. If you believe that any information posted anywhere on this website is an infringement on your copyright, then please contact Melissa Young, General Counsel at (847) 384-4050 or at young@aaos.org. For information about licensing content, please send an email to OrthoInfo@aaos.org.

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold the AAOS harmless from any and all liabilities, costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, related to any violation of these terms and conditions by you.

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons is a Section 501(c)(3), not-for-profit corporation, and as such, does not participate in any political activities. You are prohibited from participating in political activities while in the Academy sections of this website.

The AAOS (Academy and Association) are incorporated in the State of Illinois in the United States of America, which laws and regulations you agree shall govern the AAOS website regardless of where you reside or where you made your posting, transaction or connection with the AAOS website. You agree to be bound by all applicable laws that may pertain to the site, including U.S. export and re-import laws and regulations. If any case or controversy arises regarding your use of the AAOS website, you agree that such case or controversy will be arbitrated or decided in the State of Illinois in the United States of America.

AAOS reserves the right to change or modify these Terms and Conditions at any time, and you agree to give effect to such changes or modifications upon their being posted to the AAOS website.

By participating on the AAOS website, you acknowledge that you are aware of these Terms and Conditions, that you understand these Terms and Conditions and that you agree to be bound by them. If you do not wish to be bound by these terms and conditions, you should not access or use the website.

Privacy Policy

The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for Orthoinfo.org.

We receive and store certain types of information whenever you interact with us. For example, like many Web sites, we use "cookies," and we obtain certain types of information when your Web browser accesses Orthoinfo.org or advertisements and other content served by or on behalf of Orthoinfo.org on other Web sites.

Examples of the information we collect and analyze include the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your computer to the Internet; computer and connection information such as browser type, version, and time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system, and platform; purchase history, which we sometimes aggregate with similar information from other customers to create features like "top content"; the full Uniform Resource Locator (URL) clickstream to, through, and from our Web site, including date and time; cookie number; and content you viewed or searched for. We may also use browser data such as cookies, Flash cookies (also known as Flash Local Shared Objects), or similar data on certain parts of our Web site for fraud prevention and other purposes. During some visits we may use software tools such as JavaScript to measure and collect session information, including page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, page interaction information (such as scrolling, clicks, and mouse-overs), and methods used to browse away from the page. We may also collect technical information to help us identify your device for fraud prevention and diagnostic purposes.

To learn more about our position regarding the European Union General Data Protection Regulations, read About EU Regulations and Privacy Policies.

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