As we get older we are going to have more body parts fail. Knee, hip, and other implants are becoming more and more commonplace. Before having such  major surgery it is crucial to make sure that your surgeon and the products that a doctor wants to insert in your body are as safe as possible. As for your surgeon, it is critical that you get his or her history, talk to others who have used this doctor, check the local and state listings with the medical boards to find out what kind of lawsuits or complaints have been filed against the doctor if any, find out how many of these surgeries the doctor has done, find out when the doctor feels the best when doing surgeries, find out who the anesthesiologist is and talk to that doctor in great detail about any and all allergies, medications and other issues so that when you are put to sleep you will safely awake, and verify that the doctor you hired is doing the surgery and not an intern or resident or associate or whoever is second in line. Find out when it comes to the product exactly what company has made it, and get all details as to how old the product is, whether there have been any issues or recalls with it, whether it is commonly used or whether it is a “new” product. Do as much research as you can before taking such a major medical step. By  doing so, you greatly enhance your odds of coming out of surgery better than ever with as few problems as possible.