Wound healing in US medical school curricula.

Approximately 6.5 million Americans suffer from nonhealing wounds. As physicians are increasingly expected to manage chronic wounds, the degree to which formalized wound care education exists as a clinical rotation is unclear. For the first time, the prevalence and characteristics of formal wound electives offered by US medical schools are documented. Online surveys were distributed to 134 US medical schools and to the 74 medical students who completed the wound healing elective at the University of Miami regarding their experiences. School response rate was 41% (n = 55). We found that out of 55 schools, only 7 schools offered a formal wound healing elective. The University of Miami was the only school to include a surgical component. Students' response rate was 39% (n = 29). After completing the elective, 20 students (69%) felt confident in their knowledge of surgical and medical wound management. A majority of students (76%, n = 22) felt that the elective was an important part of the medical school curriculum. In conclusion, we found very few schools offer a formal wound elective and recommend medical schools in formalizing this education through clinical electives. Education should be team-based and multidisciplinary; evidence exists that this is the best approach to managing chronic wounds. Basic tenets of wound care, both medical and surgical, should be emphasized.

Liposuction and lipofilling for treatment of symptomatic silicone toxicosis of the gluteal region.

BACKGROUND: Silicone injection can cause numerous posttreatment complications-including debilitating pain, cellulitis, abscesses, overlying skin compromise, and siliconomas distorting overlying tissues-that can be difficult to manage. OBJECTIVES: The authors evaluate liposuction as a treatment for patients experiencing complications from silicone injections to the gluteal region, to both preserve aesthetic appearance and minimize further risk of complication from these procedures. METHODS: Eight patients (7 women and 1 man) who presented consecutively to us between 2010 and 2013 with complications from silicone injections to their gluteal region were enrolled in this study. Each patient was evaluated by computed tomography scan and a 0 to 6 visual analog scale for pain. Emergency room (ER) visits, previous hospital admissions, and cellulitis requiring antibiotics in the 12 months prior to treatment were recorded. Patients were treated with ultrasonic and standard liposuction followed by lipotransfer into the gluteal musculature. A Student t test was used for statistical comparison of pre- and postoperative values. RESULTS: Average patient age was 36 years (range, 25-43 years). All patients initially presented with intense pain as assessed by a visual analog scale; by the 12th week postoperatively, the entire cohort experienced remission in pain. At 1 year postoperatively, no patients had infections (vs 75% preoperatively; P = .028), visited the ER (vs 50% preoperatively; P = .058), or were hospitalized (vs an average of 1.5 hospitalizations per patient preoperatively; P = .066). CONCLUSIONS: Liposuction with immediate intramuscular fat transfer for buttock augmentation appears to be a safe surgical option that preserves aesthetic appearance for patients with gluteal silicone toxicosis.

Post-vasectomy pain syndrome: diagnosis, management and treatment options.

Vasectomy is the most effective form of sterilization for men. With approximately 500,000 vasectomies performed each year in the United States, 1-2% of these patients will experience chronic testicular pain for greater than three months after the procedure. Post-vasectomy pain syndrome (PVPS) is diagnosis of exclusion, and may be caused by direct damage to spermatic cord structures, compression of nerves in the spermatic cord via inflammation, back pressure from epididymal congestion, and perineural fibrosis. Treatment should begin with the most noninvasive options and progress towards surgical management if symptoms persist. Noninvasive therapies include acupuncture, pelvic floor therapy and pharmacologic options. Ultimately, management of PVPS requires a multimodal approach. Thorough understanding of the potential etiologies of PVPS along with the therapeutic options currently available is important to improve quality of life.

Reproductive Health of Men with Spinal Cord Injury.

Most men with spinal cord injury (SCI) are infertile due to a combination of erectile dysfunction, ejaculatory dysfunction, and abnormal semen quality. This article addresses issues that should be considered when managing the reproductive health of men with SCI. The authors present recommendations based on their decades of experience in managing the reproductive health of more than 1,000 men with SCI. Men with SCI face obstacles when pursuing sexual activity and/or biologic fatherhood. Hypogonadism and premature symptoms of aging may interfere with sexual function. Erectile dysfunction is prevalent in the SCI population, and treatments for erectile dysfunction in the general population are also effective in the SCI population. Most men with SCI cannot ejaculate with sexual intercourse. The procedures of penile vibratory stimulation (PVS) and/or electroejaculation (EEJ) are effective in obtaining an ejaculate from 97% of men with SCI. The ejaculate often contains sufficient total motile sperm to consider the assisted conception procedures of intrauterine insemination or even intravaginal insemination at home. If PVS and/or EEJ fail, sperm may be retrieved surgically from the testis or epididymis. Surgical sperm retrieval typically yields enough motile sperm only for in vitro fertilization with intracytoplasmic sperm injection. The majority of new cases of SCI occur in young men at the peak of their reproductive health. With proper medical management, these men can expect to experience active sexual lives and biologic fatherhood, if these are their goals. Numerous tools are available to physicians for helping these patients reach their goals.

Re-examining Prostate-specific Antigen (PSA) Density: Defining the Optimal PSA Range and Patients for Using PSA Density to Predict Prostate Cancer Using Extended Template Biopsy.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the predictive accuracy of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) density vs PSA across different PSA ranges and by prior biopsy status in a prospective cohort undergoing prostate biopsy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Men from a prospective trial underwent an extended template biopsy to evaluate for prostate cancer at 26 sites throughout the United States. The area under the receiver operating curve assessed the predictive accuracy of PSA density vs PSA across 3 PSA ranges (<4 ng/mL, 4-10 ng/mL, >10 ng/mL). We also investigated the effect of varying the PSA density cutoffs on the detection of cancer and assessed the performance of PSA density vs PSA in men with or without a prior negative biopsy. RESULTS: Among 1290 patients, 585 (45%) and 284 (22%) men had prostate cancer and significant prostate cancer, respectively. PSA density performed better than PSA in detecting any prostate cancer within a PSA of 4-10 ng/mL (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUC]: 0.70 vs 0.53, P < .0001) and within a PSA >10 mg/mL (AUC: 0.84 vs 0.65, P < .0001). PSA density was significantly more predictive than PSA in detecting any prostate cancer in men without (AUC: 0.73 vs 0.67, P < .0001) and with (AUC: 0.69 vs 0.55, P < .0001) a previous biopsy; however, the incremental difference in AUC was higher among men with a previous negative biopsy. Similar inferences were seen for significant cancer across all analyses. CONCLUSION: As PSA increases, PSA density becomes a better marker for predicting prostate cancer compared with PSA alone. Additionally, PSA density performed better than PSA in men with a prior negative biopsy.

A staging system for gluteal foreign body reaction to injectables.

BACKGROUND: Esthetic augmentation of the gluteal region can lead to complications including debilitating pain, infections, wounds, and scars. To our knowledge, a general consensus of staging and treatment guidelines for managing gluteal foreign body reaction to injectables has not yet been established. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to develop a reliable staging system that can be used to implement a treatment algorithm for gluteal foreign body reactions. METHODS: A retrospective review of 40 patients treated for complications of gluteal injections between September 2010 and May 2014 was performed. Patient symptoms, imaging, and photographs were used to develop a staging system of disease. Institutional review board approval was obtained from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Five independent observers reviewed the patients' documented symptoms and photographs. Using our staging system, the independent observers reviewed the patient cases at two separate time intervals. Intra- and interclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were computed to assess the reliability for each of the observers. RESULTS: Seven patients were classified as Stage I, fifteen as Stage IIa, nine as Stage IIb, and nine as Stage III. The mean patient age was 34 years (21-50). Analysis of the independent reviewer results revealed ICC for each rater to range from 0.96 to 0.98, demonstrating high indexes of intra-rater reliability. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our statistical analysis, we found an excellent inter- and intra-observer reliability, indicating that the staging system is reproducible and reliable. A treatment strategy dependent on the stage can be implemented as a guideline to optimize functional and esthetic outcomes.