Lowell D. Lutter

Thromboembolism after foot and ankle surgery : A multicenter study

Thromboembolic disease presents a potentially fatal complication to patients undergoing orthopaedic surgery. Although the incidence after hip and knee surgery has been studied and documented, its incidence after surgery of the foot and ankle is unknown. For this reason, a prospective multicenter study was undertaken to identify patients with clinically evident thromboembolic disease to evaluate potential risk factors. Two thousand seven hundred thirty-three patients were evaluated for preoperative risk factors and postoperative thromboembolic events. There were six clinically significant thromboembolic events, including four nonfatal pulmonary emboli, after foot and ankle surgery. The incidence of deep vein thrombosis was six of 2733 (0.22%) and that of nonfatal pulmonary emboli was four of 2733 (0.15%). Factors found to correlate with an increased incidence of deep vein thrombosis were nonweightbearing status and immobilization after surgery. On the basis of these results, routine prophylaxis for thromboembolic disease after foot and ankle surgery probably is not warranted.

Pes planus: radiographic changes with foot orthoses and shoes.

Radiographic evaluation of 10 children with bllateral pes planus was performed. Radiogrephe taken barefoot, with a Thomas heel, with an over-the-counter insert, with two specially molded plastic foot orthoses were used. No significant change was seen after the donning of these appliances in their comparison to barefoot evaluation. The conclusion is that there was not a significant change radiographically of these feet by the utilization of any of the appliances.

Foot-related Knee Problems in the Long Distance Runner:

One-hundred sixty-four knee injuries in runners with abnormal foot configuration were reviewed and followed. Definite injury patterns related to pronation and cavus configuration of the foot are seen, and specific treatment can be made.

Diabetic foot care: multilingual translation of a patient education leaflet.

The American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society “Diabetic Foot Care” patient education leaflet was revised to improve the layout and emphasis of key concepts of preventive care. This included review of daily foot and shoe examination, danger signs, daily washing and foot care, shoe fitting, medical care, and avoidance of dangerous acts. The leaflet was expanded to occupy two sides of a page, retaining the capability of production in tear-off sheet format to facilitate distribution to patients in the clinical office. Furthermore, the leaflet was translated into 19 other languages for diabetic patients in the United States and around the world with limited English language comprehension.

Highlights of the Fourteenth Annual Summer Meeting of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society, Boston, Massachusetts, July 24–26, 1998

American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society, Seattle, Washington, USA. * Subsection Editor (Abstracts), Foot & Ankle International, and Fellow, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society. To whom correspondence should be addressed c/o Sandy Vocke, Managing Editor, Foot &Ankle International, 1690 University Avenue, No. 810, St. Paul, MN 55104, USA. t Editor-in-Chief, Foot & Ankle International, and Past President, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society. 1: Program Chairman, Fourteenth Annual Summer Meeting, and Fellow, American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society. Publication does not constitute endorsement of content or validation of conclusions. Comparisons should be made with caution because statistical significance might not have been noted in the abstracts published in the conference program.

Special Report: Highlights of the 23rd Annual Summer Meeting of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, July 13–15, 2007:

The 23rd Annual Summer Meeting of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) was held 13–15 July 2007 at the Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. There were 538 registrants in attendance, including 182 individuals from 29 countries outside the United States. # 2007 European Foot and Ankle Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Running athlete in office practice.

The running athlete has different needs from other athletes in terms of determination of his/her specific injury. Causation determination can be done through history. Specific pointers in terms of physical examination are noted to lead one to the diagnosis. Basic general treatment modalities are noted.

Sooner Beats the Cost of Later

The article by Apelqvist et al. appearing in this issue of the Journal underscores in specific numerical terms what all of us have felt for a long time: With diabetic foot problems, prevention and appropriate treatment are much more cost efficient and medically efficient when done early than when allowed to progress. Although the article was done in Sweden and the specific costs are not parallel to those in the United States, it gives us an excellent model. Although you may not want to wade through the great volume of numbers in the paper, we have left them in because we believe that this paper sets a standard against which many treatment measures can be compared. You will find that monies applied early in the treatment process of diabetes mellitus are well spent, since the costs for an individual without an amputation are approximately

Special Report: Highlights of the 22nd Annual Summer Meeting of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society, La Jolla, California, July 14–16, 2006

16,000 for the study period of time and soar to

Special report: highlights of the Twentieth Annual Summer Meeting of the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society, Seattle, Washington, July 29-31, 2004.

63,000 if an above-ankle amputation is performed.