Murad Alam

Patient-Reported Outcome Measures in Plastic Surgery

The authors of a recent article provide an overview of “patient-reported outcome measures,” meaning specifically the questionnaires used by clinicians or researchers to elicit patient self-assessment of results. Measuring quality of life and patient satisfaction, these instruments represent a trend away from provider- or investigator-centric outcome assessment. The authors detail the complex …

Frequency of Residual Melanoma in Wide Local Excision Specimens After Complete Excisional Biopsy

Wide local excision (WLE) is the standard of care for histologically confirmed, primary cutaneous melanoma. However, there is little available evidence

Do Adhesive Strips Add Anything to Dermal Sutures

These investigators compared the effectiveness for closure of Mohs and excisions of buried vertical mattress sutures alone and with the addition of

Does Elongating the Leading Edge of a Rotation Flap Closure Reduce Tension

Reports of research conducted in vivo to accurately measure the changes in tension after basic flap modifications are lacking in the literature.

Topical Botulinum Toxin for Crow's Feet Wrinkles

The usual delivery of botulinum toxin for correction of wrinkles is via injection. Some patients may have concerns about pain or bruising to the crows

Shared Medical Appointments May Make Patient Consultations More Efficient

Shared medical appointments (SMAs) are an efficient means for imparting education to a number of patients with similar medical problems. Knackstedt and Samie have developed a model SMA program for patients needing Mohs surgery. Patients presented for a preoperative consultation that began with a group education visit, including a PowerPoint presentation followed by a question-and-answer period. The patients …

Does Laser Work for Treating Onychomycosis? Maybe, Sometimes

Two new studies examine different laser approaches to treating onychomycotic nails. Hollmig and colleagues enrolled 27 patients with a total of 125 nails needing treatment to evaluate the effectiveness of 1064-nm Nd:YAG laser for mycologic cure and clinical improvement (defined as proximal nail-plate clearance). Patients randomized to treatment received two laser treatments, 2 weeks apart. Among the 22 study completers, treatment recipients and untreated control patients had no statistically significant differences in mycologic cure (33% and 20%, …

Comparing Treatments for Varicose Veins

To treat varicose veins, the greater saphenous vein may be tied off by surgical ligation, or thermal ablation of the greater saphenous vein may be delivered by endovenous laser, or ultrasound-guided sclerotherapy using injected sodium tetradecyl sulfate foam may be employed to injure the vessel wall. Using a series of measures of patient-reported disease-specific quality of life as the primary outcome measures, these authors conducted a randomized, multicenter trial in 798 patients. Secondary outcome …

Notalgia Paresthetica Is Not Shown to Improve with Botulinum Toxin Injection

To study the effect of botulinum toxin A on notalgia paresthetica that is resistant to topical therapy and more than mildly pruritic, researchers

Skin Closure After C-Section with Sutures vs. Staples

To compare the rates of complications after wound closure with suture and with staples after cesarean delivery, these authors conducted a randomized