Implant-specific patient identification cards.

When planning for a revision arthroplasty, one of the most important parts of preoperative planning is determining what components are currently in place. This information is crucial. The previous operative report is not always available, and when it is, it does not always contain the appropriate information concerning components. This problem can easily be prevented by providing every patient who has an arthroplasty with an implant-specific patient identification card at the time of surgery as described in this article.