Kempton LB, Gaski GE, Brown KM, et al. - A prospective cohort study.was performed to ascertain preoperative factors predictive of improvement in pain and function after elective implant removal. Researchers assumed that patients undergoing orthopedic implant removal to relieve pain would have significant improvements in both pain and function. They included a total of 189 patients after consenting for orthopaedic implant removal to address residual pain. For a 3-month follow-up, 163 patients were available. They compared preoperative and postoperative outcome measures including Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System scores. They further examined preoperative scores, surgeon prediction of pain improvement, and palpable implants as predictors of outcomes. The data indicated that many patients also had a clinically relevant improvement in physical function, although the primary indication for implant removal in this population was pain relief. In addition, after implant removal, patients who start with worse global indices of pain and function are more likely to improve. In addition, this implies that implant-related pain directly contributes to global dysfunction.