AO Surgery Reference vs mediCS
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
AO Surgery Reference
Access a comprehensive online repository of surgical knowledge for fracture management. It provides detailed guidance on diagnosis, treatment, and aftercare for numerous fracture types, supported by extensive illustrations and expert review.
- 353 fracture types covered
- 172 surgical approaches
- 1222 surgical procedures
- Over 30,000 illustrations
- Feline, canine, and equine fracture care
- Powerful search function
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QUICK ONLINE REFERENCE IN CLINICAL LIFE Gain easy access to the award-winning AO Surgery Reference. AO Surgery Reference is an online repository for surgical knowledge. It describes the complete surgical management process from diagnosis to aftercare for all fractures of a given anatomical region, and also assembles relevant material that the AO has published before. It gives access to: • aid in surgical decision making for 353 fracture types • 172 approaches • 1222 surgical procedures • all richly illustrated with more than 30'000 Illustrations and much more. To ensure the quality of the content, it is authored, edited, and peer reviewed by experienced AO Faculty from all over the world, some of which are also well-known textbook authors/editors. This is a relaunch of the AO Surgery Reference app utilizing the same responsive user interface that was released February 2020. The highlights are: • Consistent navigational logic and user experience on all screen sizes • Inclusion of feline, canine, and equine fracture care • Combination of Preparation – Approach – Reduction and Fixation – Aftercare into one step called treatment. • Introduction of a powerful search function, allowing simplifications of the user interface as it replaces previous shortcuts.
mediCS
This app provides a comprehensive collection of medical scores, criteria, conversions, and calculators. It allows users to quickly access and utilize essential medical formulas and scoring systems for various clinical assessments and calculations.
- Medical criteria and scores
- Clinical calculators
- Unit conversions
- Search and copy results
- Comprehensive list of formulas
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The easiest way to use scores, medical criteria, convertions, and calculators. - Performs searches and copies the results to the clipboard. - Performs conversions used for certain criteria. Criteria & Scores - APACHE II score - CHA2DS2-VASc score - CHADS2 score - CURB-65 score - Child-Pugh score - Glasgow Coma Scale - Glasgow-Blatchford score - GRACE risk score - HAS-BLED - Mayo score - PSI score - Ranson criteria - Revised Trauma Score (RTS) - Rockall score - SAPS II - SOFA score - Sepsis Obstetrics Scoring - TIMI risk score - TISS-28 - Wells score for DVT - Wells Score for PE Calculator - Absolute neutrophil count - Anion Gap - Basal Energy Expenditure - Body mass index - Cockcroft-Gault formula - Mean arterial pressure - Osmolality - Oxygen content - Pulse pressure - Renal failure index (RFI) - Salazar-Corcoran equation Convertions - Albumin - Bilirubin - Calcium - Cholesterol - Cortisol - Creatine - Creatinine - Creatinine clearance - Ethanol - Glucose - Length - Oxygen - Pressure - Temperature - Uric acid - Warfarin - Weight comments and suggestions: aikyu.sama@gmail.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: AO Surgery Reference at 86% against mediCS's 0%. AO Surgery Reference also leads on price (Free vs $1.99) and rating (4.4 vs 1.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
AO Surgery Reference is free to download; mediCS costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
AO Surgery Reference holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AO Surgery Reference has 14 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of AO Surgery Reference's written reviews are positive against 0% of mediCS's.
AO Surgery Reference ships an update every 6 months, mediCS every 17 months. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AO Surgery Reference | mediCS |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | 4.4 (14 ratings) — better | 1.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 85.8% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months — better | Every 17 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 15.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | AO Foundation | LUIS MOSQUERA A. |
Customer experience
AO Surgery Reference
mediCS
In-app purchases
AO Surgery Reference
No in-app purchases
mediCS
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is AO Surgery Reference free?
Is mediCS free?
Which has better reviews, AO Surgery Reference or mediCS?
Do AO Surgery Reference or mediCS have ads?
Which is updated more often, AO Surgery Reference or mediCS?
Other comparisons
