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Category: October 2020

For October, we asked members how and when they decide to employ a new technique or procedure. What’s the last new procedure you tried, why did you change from your conventional route, and how did it go?

Less Invasive Procedures

By Alejandro Badia, MD, FACS I am inclined to perform a new operation or variation of a procedure when I feel the existing option does not lead to ideal results, or more often, when the newer option is more efficient and often cost-effective, and more imporantly, when the patient will recover faster and with less […]

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Managing the Chronically Stiff Hand

By Judy C. Colditz, OT/L, CHT, FAOTA Certainly not my last, but definitely my most significant deviation from standard practice, was some years ago when I casted a patient with a chronically stiff hand. Having been taught to never immobilize any part of a stiff hand and especially never to block the MP joints in […]

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My New Go-To Fixation Technique

By Ryan D. Endress, MD I’ve recently adopted the technique of cannulated intramedullary screws for metacarpal neck and shaft fractures. Depending on the fracture pattern, I would previously either perform percutaneous fixation with wires, or open fixation with plates and/or lag screws. I was looking for a way to provide the best of both worlds (i.e. less […]

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Menopausal Hand

By Yuichi Hirase, MD Hand surgeons know from experience that hand and finger disorders develop mainly during or after menopause, whereas clinicians often explain to patients with Heberden’s nodes or Bouchard’s nodes that the symptoms have been caused by aging or overuse, and that they cannot be cured. But hand surgeons should understand that there […]

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My New Magic Recipe

By Constantinos Ketonis, MD, PhD Surgeons are often called “creatures of habit” and are known to abide by the slogan “if it’s not broken don’t fix it.” We like routine and we like to perform each procedure the exact same way, every time–from the placement of the retractors to the application of the bandages. There […]

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Employing New Techniques

By Jaehon Kim, MD, FAAOS I’m a mid-career hand surgeon in an academic center with a passion for trauma. Recently, my residents declared me to be the necrotizing fasciitis specialist in New York City after seeing three of them in a span of two weeks. It’s a title I desperately wish to shed as soon […]

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Retrospective Thoughts on Adapting to New Technologies

By John G. Kloss, MD Thank you for the invitation to comment on the forces that may induce us to accept new technologies. Here is perhaps another perspective as to what that might mean from a business perspective. Upon completion of a Hand Fellowship in Louisville, my wife and I moved to Boise, Idaho to […]

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Treatment Comfort Zone

By Michael B. Lilyquist, MD We have likely all heard the phrase, “don’t be the first, but don’t be the last” to adopt a new surgical technique or device.  This is seemingly wise counsel and was often repeated during my orthopaedic residency training. It was almost always stated when an x-ray was reviewed in morning […]

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Getting a Grip on Ulnar Sided Wrist Pain

By Ather Mirza, MD Being in practice for over 30 years, I have seen a progressive and dynamic shift in procedural approaches over time. As techniques have evolved, our field and the larger medical community have greatly benefited from the pearls and pitfalls shared among colleagues. When a potential breakthrough emerges in the field of […]

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The Restless Few

By Nathaniel S. Orillaza Jr., MD The early stages of the pandemic closed the doors of so many hospitals to non-COVID-related consults. In anticipation of the surge of cases that will need the facilities and require intensive care, Orthopedics, like most other times, is low priority compared to more life-threatening conditions. It seemed natural to […]

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