AO Surgery Reference vs Orthopedic Surgery Approaches
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.
Orthopedic Surgery Approaches
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Orthopedic Surgery Approaches Pro is an application that contains all operative surgical approaches in orthopedic surgery in a simple and easy way. The application contains the orthopaedic surgical approaches divided according to the regions into the surgical approaches to the: 1. shoulder approaches, 2. Upper arm approaches, 3. Elbow approaches, 4. Forearm approaches, 5. Wrist & hand approaches, 6. Pelvis and hip approaches, 7. Femur approaches, 8. Knee approaches, 9. Tibia approaches, 10. Ankle & foot approaches 11. Spine approaches. Within each section there are all the operative approaches for this region. Within each approaches, the approaches is divided into: 1. Approaches indications 2. The neural internervous plan 3. Anatomical landmarks 4. Surgical incision 5. Superficial dissection 6. Deep dissection 7. Approach expansion 8. Risks of the approach. 9. Illustrations for the approaches. There is also a MCQs quiz test for surgical approaches that contains almost 200 MCQs, the total MCQs in a single quiz are 50 MCQs. You can add any approach to your favorite so you can reach it easily later. You can also search the approaches by the approach name. -------------------------------------------- Orthopedic Approaches Pro app features include: - Easy & friendly UI. - The application is completely offline. - Search ability. - MCQs quiz test. - Add to favorite feature. - Notes section. - The approaches are divided according to the region. - You can add an approach that is not in the app by contacting us through the app. If there is an error in the information listed in the app, please feel free to contact us immediately. --------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer Reminder: The app cannot and does not contain medical/health advice. Medical/health information is provided for general informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice. Accordingly, before taking any action based on such information, we encourage you to consult with the appropriate professionals. We do not provide any type of medical/health advice. YOUR USE OF OR RELIANCE ON ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED IN OUR MOBILE APPLICATION IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: AO Surgery Reference at Free against Orthopedic Surgery Approaches's $12.99. Orthopedic Surgery Approaches's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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; Orthopedic Surgery Approaches costs $12.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
AO Surgery Reference ships an update every 6 months, Orthopedic Surgery Approaches every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AO Surgery Reference | Orthopedic Surgery Approaches |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $12.99 |
| Rating | 4.4 (14 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 85.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 14 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1 MB | 77 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 17+ |
| Developer | AO Foundation | Ahmad Al Hariri |
In-app purchases
AO Surgery Reference
No in-app purchases
Orthopedic Surgery Approaches
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is AO Surgery Reference free?
Is Orthopedic Surgery Approaches free?
Do AO Surgery Reference or Orthopedic Surgery Approaches have ads?
Which is updated more often, AO Surgery Reference or Orthopedic Surgery Approaches?
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