Preoperative methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus screening in Mohs surgery appears to decrease postoperative infections.

Background: Colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) places patients at risk for postoperative MRSA wound infections.

Objective: To determine the effect of a decontamination and prophylaxis protocol on postoperative MRSA wound infections in patients with nasal MRSA.

Methods & Materials: Wound cultures over a 23-month period were reviewed before and 11 months after implementation of a screening and decontamination protocol.

Midline/paramedian longitudinal matrix excision with flap reconstruction: alternative surgical techniques for evaluation of longitudinal melanonychia.

Background: Surgical evaluation of longitudinal melanonychia requires biopsy of the nail matrix. Previous publications have presented detailed surgical approaches to this problem. However, discussion of longitudinal excision with local matrix flap reconstruction is documented sparsely in the literature.

Dermatologic conditions seen in end-stage renal disease.

The skin changes reported in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) are diverse and manifold. In this article we focus on a collection of specific cutaneous entities seen most frequently in the setting of ESRD, each presenting with distinctive and unique morphology. These include perforating disorders, porphyria cutanea tarda, pseudoporphyria, calcinosis cutis, calciphylaxis, and nephrogenic systemic fibrosis.

Alternatives to complete nail plate avulsion.

Successful nail surgery requires exposure of the underlying tissues. In many cases, partial nail plate avulsion is preferable compared with traditional total distal and proximal plate avulsions. The techniques described herein include partial distal, lateral, proximal, and window techniques, and two variation of the total plate avulsion termed the trap door and lateral nail plate curl avulsion.