Enormous gratitude for your post to me. Tipping me toward suspension arthroplasty: no hard cast for 5 weeks, more rapid recovery, same outcome as LRTI or other. I have confidence in the surgeon who would perform suspection arthroplasty. His reputation was confirmed by another reputable hand surgeon who does LRTI and casts for 5 weeks. Other hand surgeon said different surgeons learn different techniques and typically go with what works best for their patients. He said he knows the other ortho and would feel comfortable having surgery with him. Does that make sense? What am I missing in my decision?