Evidence-based Prevention of Surgical Site Infection.

Surgical site infection (SSI) remains an important complication of surgery. SSI is estimated to affect 2% to 5% of all surgical patients. Local and national efforts have resulted in significant improvements in the incidence of SSI.

Cutis marmorata telangiectatica congenita successfully treated with intense pulsed light and pulse dyed laser therapy: a case report.

Cutis marmorata telangiectatica congenita (CMTC) is a rare vascular disorder characterized by blue-purple reticulated patches and plaques that can be localized or generalized. Associated skin atrophy and soft tissue hypoplasia is common while ulceration is relatively uncommon. As CMTC is exceedingly rare and spontaneous remission in childhood can occur in mild cases, evidence for treatment of severe, refractory disease is limited.

Don't forget these 5 things when treating hidradenitis suppurativa.

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a common dermatologic condition in which chronic and recurrent inflammation affects the pilosebaceous unit and can lead to permanent disfigurement with scars and sinus tracts. Multimodal individualized treatment typically is required to address the medical, surgical, and psychosocial needs of affected patients. This article discusses several aspects of HS treatment that often are overlooked: educating patients about disease pathophysiology, counseling on smoking cessation, offering laser hair removal, planning for flares, and considering childbearing status.

Challenges of treating primary psychiatric disease in dermatology.

Psychiatric disorders are common among dermatology patients. They may be secondary to skin disease but also can be the primary cause of cutaneous concerns. Because patients with primary psychiatric disorders who present to dermatology often refuse referral to mental health providers, dermatologists are challenged with management of various psychiatric conditions, such as delusional infestation and trichotillomania.

Surgical dermatoethics for the trainee.

Proficiency in performing dermatologic procedures is obtained by practice, and residents practice with real patients. The imperative of training new generations of dermatologists must be achieved while patient autonomy is respected and the highest standards of patient safety are upheld. This article examines ethical considerations that are inherent to the training process in procedural dermatology, including disclosing training status, informing patients of experience level with a particular procedure, and the need for graded responsibility under appropriate supervision.

Miscommunication with dermatology patients: are we speaking the same language?

When physicians reference the diet in a standard admissions order set, do patients think they are talking about weight loss? Communication with patients is fraught with potential for misunderstanding, even in seemingly simple words and concepts. This article explores some examples particularly relevant to dermatologists.

Updates in Melanoma.

Skin cancer is reaching epidemic levels in the United States. Recent advances in the understanding of the pathophysiology of melanoma have allowed improved risk stratification in the revised American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) criteria, new tests to capture patients at higher risk than their stage may indicate, and new treatments to offer hope and cures to patients with advanced disease.

Dermatology Interest Groups in Medical Schools.

Involvement in a Dermatology Interest Group (DIG) allows students to learn about dermatology, partake in service projects, get involved in research, and ask questions about the application process for residency programs. In this article, we review the activities and member involvement of DIGs from 11 medical schools. To our knowledge, this is the first descriptive analysis of DIGs across the United States.

Pemetrexed-Induced Pseudocellulitis Reaction With Eosinophilic Infiltrate on Skin Biopsy.

Peripheral edema with painful erythema is an increasingly recognized but poorly understood cutaneous adverse reaction to the antifolate agent pemetrexed. It is frequently misdiagnosed as cellulitis, and when it occurs, it is often dose-limiting. The authors report the case of a patient with preexisting lower extremity edema who developed extensive painful, bilateral erythema 5 days after administration of pemetrexed.

Influences of age, tongue region, and chorda tympani nerve sectioning on signal detection measures of lingual taste sensitivity.

Although the ability to taste is critical for ingestion, nutrition, and quality of life, a clear understanding of the influences of age, sex, and chorda tympani (CT) resection on taste function in different regions of the anterior tongue is generally lacking. In this study we employed criterion-free signal detection analysis to assess electric and chemical taste function on multiple tongue regions in normal individuals varying in age and sex and in patients with unilateral CT resections. The subjects were 33 healthy volunteers, ranging from 18 to 87 years of age, and 9 persons, 27 to 77 years of age, with unilateral CT lesions.

Macroparasite population dynamics among geographical localities and host life cycle stages: eugregarines in Ischnura verticalis.

Populations of several species of gregarine parasites within a single host species, the damselfly Ischnura verticalis , were examined over the course of 1 season at 4 geographic localities separated by a maximum distance of 9.7 km. Gregarines, having a life cycle with both exogenous and endogenous stages, are subject to a wide variety of selective pressures that may drive adaptation.

Optimizing reliability and sensitivity of Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments for establishing point tactile thresholds.

Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments (SWM) are widely used to assess tactile point pressure sensitivity. However, the reliability of SWMs has been questioned, standardization of stimulus presentation procedures is lacking, and the sensitivity measure is commonly confounded by the response criterion. This study sought to assess the reliability of two versions of a forced-choice single staircase SWM test with the goal of optimizing test reliability with a minimum number of test trials.