Surgical mentoring: a critical skill.

Surgeons routinely share medical knowledge, surgical techniques, and medical judgment with junior colleagues in their everyday practice. Most information is transferred by chance encounters, i.e.

Shock wave therapy for acute and chronic soft tissue wounds: a feasibility study.

Background: Nonhealing wounds are a major, functionally-limiting medical problem impairing quality of life for millions of people each year. Various studies report complete wound epithelialization of 48 to 56% over 30 to 65 d with different treatment modalities including ultrasound, topical rPDGF-BB, and composite acellular matrix. This is in contrast to comparison control patients treated with standard wound care, demonstrating complete epithelialization rates of 25 to 39%.

Responding to challenges in modern combat casualty care: innovative use of advanced regional anesthesia.

Background: The war in Iraq has resulted in a high incidence of severe extremity injury requiring multiple surgical procedures and extensive rehabilitation. We describe the use of advanced regional anesthesia to meet this significant medical challenge.

Methods: From March 2003 to December 2004, 4,100 casualties have been evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC).

Prospective study of electrical impedance scanning for identifying young women at risk for breast cancer.

Background: One way to improve the cost-benefit ratio for breast cancer screening in younger women is to identify those at high-risk of breast cancer and manage them in an optimal manner. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of Electrical Impedance Scanning (EIS) for identifying young women who are at risk for having breast cancer and should be followed with directed imaging technologies.

Methods: A prospective, observational, two-arm, multi-site clinical trial was performed on women aged 30-45 years.