Update on Absorbable Facial Thread Lifts.

Background: Thread lifts are a noninvasive technique for suspending ptotic skin. Previous studies have failed to show long-term efficacy data with absorbable threads.

Objective: To review the recent literature evaluating mid and lower facial absorbable thread lifts over a four-year period from October 2018 to December 2022.

Impact of Needle Design and Suture Gauge on Tissue Tearing During Skin Suturing: A Comparative Analysis.

Background: Surgeons face numerous choices in selecting sutures for skin closure, with potential adverse effects such as tissue tearing.

Objective: To investigate the influence of needle design and suture gauge on tissue tearing during suturing procedures.

Materials And Methods: The authors tested the tear-through force in Newtons for 3 needle types and 3 suture gauges using an artificial skin model and a professional-grade tensiometer.

Retronychia: the importance of proper footwear.

Retronychia is commonly underdiagnosed and exhibits classic features of proximal nail fold elevation and nail plate layering. Herein we summarize the literature and discuss cause, diagnosis, and treatment of this condition.

The Effect of Preoperative Chlorhexidine Gluconate Cleanse on Lower Extremity Surgical Site Infections: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Background: Lower extremity surgical sites are at an increased risk of wound infection following Mohs micrographic surgery.

Objective: To evaluate the rate of lower extremity surgical site infections following a 14-day regimen of preoperative 4% chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) rinses and postoperative wound occlusion for 14 days.

Materials And Methods: Retrospective data were collected from procedures performed by the senior author from January 2022 through June 2023.

Reconstruction of High-Tension Scalp Defects by the Twizzler Technique: A Retrospective Case Series.

Background: Scalp wounds are difficult to close primarily because of the inelasticity of the galea, often requiring adjacent tissue transfer or grafting. It is still debated whether intraoperative tissue expansion can occur on the scalp.

Objective: We report our experience with the Twizzler technique, a form of intraoperative tissue expansion and load cycling, to achieve primary closure of high-tension scalp wounds.

Superior Antihelix Composite Graft for Repair of Nasal Ala and Lateral Nasal Tip Defects: A Retrospective Case Series.

Background: Deep defects on the nasal ala and lateral nasal tip may result in nasal valve insufficiency or alar notching and are often repaired with a 2-stage reconstruction. Previous literature has demonstrated high failure rates of composite grafts.

Objective: Identify survival rates and cosmetic outcomes of nasal composite grafts harvested from the antihelix.

Plume Generated by Different Electrosurgical Techniques: An In Vitro Experiment on Human Skin.

Background: Plume generated by electrosurgical techniques is a health hazard to patients and dermatologists.

Objective: To compare the particle concentration generated by various energy devices used in dermatologic surgery.

Materials And Methods: Five surgical techniques were tested on human tissue samples in a closed chamber.

Bullous Dermatoses and Quality of Life: A Summary of Tools to Assess Psychosocial Health.

Autoimmune bullous dermatoses (ABDs), such as pemphigus and bullous pemphigoid (BP), cause cutaneous lesions that are painful and disfiguring. These conditions affect a patient's ability to perform everyday tasks, and individual lesions can take years to heal. Multiple small studies have examined how these conditions affect a patient's lifestyle.

Risk of Complications With the Total Contact Cast in Diabetic Foot Disorders.

The custom-fabricated total contact cast is commonly used in the treatment of diabetic foot disorders. This resource-consuming treatment option has been associated with iatrogenic morbidity as well as the need for urgent cast removal and inspection of the underlying limb when potential problems arise. Over a 10-year period, 381 diabetic patients had 2265 total contact cast applications by certified orthopaedic technologists, in a university orthopaedic practice, under the supervision of university faculty.

On confidence intervals for within-subjects designs.

Confidence intervals (CIs) for means are frequently advocated as alternatives to null hypothesis significance testing (NHST), for which a common theme in the debate is that conclusions from CIs and NHST should be mutually consistent. The authors examined a class of CIs for which the conclusions are said to be inconsistent with NHST in within-subjects designs and a class for which the conclusions are said to be consistent. The difference between them is a difference in models.

Circumferential adjustment of ultrasound probe position to determine the optimal approach to the internal jugular vein: a noninvasive geometric study in adults.

Circumferential adjustment of the position of a two-dimensional ultrasound (US) probe around the neck has been recommended as a strategy for reducing the potential for unintentional common carotid artery puncture during internal jugular venous (IJV) cannulation. We obtained multiple high-resolution US images bilaterally from the necks of 107 adult subjects and analyzed these to determine the degree to which this strategy permits identification of a pathway from the skin to the IJV that minimizes venoarterial overlap while maximizing venous target (angular) width. The method consistently permitted identification of an approach to the IJV superior to that obtainable with any one of four popular surface anatomy-based ("blind") approaches and was even more powerful if used in concert with a US-guided 1) adjustment of the degree of head rotation, 2) choice between a high and low approach, and 3) choice between the right and left IJV.

The difference between t and z and the difference it makes.

Tests of the null hypothesis for comparisons involving sample means use the t test when the conditions of the z test cannot be met. The 2 tests have different rationales and can lead to different conclusions regarding significance. In the present study, the authors compared the properties of t and z in simulation runs.

Functional anatomy of the null hypothesis and of tests of it.

The author compared simulations of the "true" null hypothesis (zeta) test, in which sigma was known and fixed, with the t test, in which s, an estimate of sigma, was calculated from the sample because the t test was used to emulate the "true" test. The true null hypothesis test bears exclusively on calculating the probability that a sample distance (mean) is larger than a specified value. The results showed that the value of t was sensitive to sampling fluctuations in both distance and standard error.

Are effect sizes and confidence levels problems for or solutions to the null hypothesis test?

Some have proposed that the null hypothesis significance test, as usually conducted using the t test of the difference between means, is an impediment to progress in psychology. To improve its prospects, using Neyman-Pearson confidence intervals and Cohen's standardized effect sizes, d, is recommended. The purpose of these approaches is to enable us to understand what can appropriately be said about the distances between the means and their reliability.

Treatment of the cutaneous pain of acute herpes zoster with 9% lidocaine (base) in petrolatum/paraffin ointment.

Background: Treatment of the pain of acute herpes zoster by local anesthetic injections has drawbacks. Topical percutaneous local anesthesia (TPLA) may offer another strategy of providing regional analgesia in affected patients.

Objective: We evaluate the analgesic efficacy and safety of 9% (wt/vol) lidocaine (base) in petrolatum/paraffin ointment in patients with acute herpes zoster.

Postnatal protein deprivation in rhesus monkeys.

We studied the growth of 97 rhesus monkeys (M. mulatta) that from birth until 120 days of age were fed a diet containing 13.4%, 6.