Striving For A Diversity Of Clinical Topics
When I first started working on this magazine, we did a small survey of readers to help determine the direction of the magazine when we took it over from the former publisher. The majority of readers said they wanted to see more clinical topics and we have pursued this editorial agenda over the years with some practice management articles mixed in as well. It is an ongoing education for us to provide just the right mix of articles that tackle emerging clinical topics as well as articles that discuss conditions that you see every day in your practice. That said, we always have a certain amount of pride when a diverse collection of articles come together to comprise an issue like this month’s edition of Podiatry Today. In the cover story (see page 30), Allan Grossman, DPM, and Matt Sowa, DPM, discuss the potentially serious complications of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). According to one estimate, DVT occurs in nearly two million people in the United States each year. Given the variety of risk factors, ranging from pregnancy and prolonged airplane flights to immobility from surgery and smoking, the authors provide a timely review of the condition, how to diagnose it and how to treat it. Another provocative feature is “Rethinking Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome,” which is penned by Paul Scherer, DPM, the Chairman of the Department of Applied Biomechanics at the California School of Podiatric Medicine at Samuel Merritt College. (See page 36.) While tarsal tunnel syndrome (TTS) is a frequently discussed topic in the literature, articles on orthotic management of this condition are not as easy to find. Dr. Scherer takes a closer look at findings from the most recent literature on TTS and suggests further exploration into the use of a pathology-specific orthotic device to enhance conservative care outcomes. Readers have told me many times that the more dermatology-related articles we can get into the magazine, the better. With this in mind, Gary Dockery, DPM, a prolific author on podiatric dermatology, provides a thorough discussion of granuloma annulare and reviews the findings from a retrospective study he did on this subject (see page 42). According to Dr. Dockery, greater than 70 percent of patients with this benign, inflammatory condition have involvement of the feet. Given the prevalence of flatfoot deformity that podiatrists see in practice, influential authors and lecturers Alan Catanzariti, DPM, and Robert Mendicino, DPM, team up with Brian Neerings, DPM, to provide their surgical insights in this month’s continuing education (CE) feature, “How To Perform The Double Calcaneal Osteotomy” (see page 52). Rounding out this month’s features is the article, “Can JCAHO Patient Safety Goals Have An Impact?” (see page 60). Steven Chinn, DPM, MS, offers an illuminating look at the efforts of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations to reduce the risk of medical errors. Don’t miss Dr. Chinn’s discussion of commonly used abbreviations and acronyms, and how easily they can be misinterpreted. This month’s issue also offers an array of columns discussing such topics as rocker bottom reconstruction for patients with Charcot neuroarthropathy (see page 20), bolstering staff morale and improving efficiency (see page 26), and an update on the continued prevalence of methicillin resistant Staph aureus (see page 6). While we are pleased with the diversity of the articles in this issue, we never want to rest on these laurels. Please let us know if there is a topic you would like to see us address in future issues. Keep us honest in our ongoing education to serve the readers and the podiatric profession.
