Clinics in podiatric medicine and surgery
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Clin Podiatr Med Surg · Apr 2003
Review Case ReportsDeep venous thrombosis risk assessment, incidence, and prophylaxis in foot and ankle surgery.
As discussed in this review, DVT and PE are dangerous clinical diagnoses that can occur following foot and ankle surgery. The authors have provided a clinical protocol, a risk assessment tool, and treatment guidelines for this condition that can be applied to the everyday practice of foot and ankle surgeons. Unlike recommendations in previous studies, the authors believe that podiatric and orthopedic surgeons operating on the foot and ankle should evaluate each patient carefully and consider pharmacologic prophylaxis against DVT formation when significant risk factors are present.
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Clin Podiatr Med Surg · Apr 2003
ReviewPsychosocial management of the foot and ankle surgery patient.
Currently, many patients undergo surgery when they and their families are not prepared or resilient enough to recover fully, predisposing them to poor outcomes. These poor outcomes lead to missed work, patient depression, chronic pain, litigation, and surgeon frustration. Sometimes these individuals require the surgeon's oversight and are more likely to improve with rapid vocational therapy, physical therapy, and aggressive, continuous chronic-pain management. ⋯ The ABLE Presurgical Assessment Tool and related treatment strategies provide foot and ankle surgeons with an easy-to-use, research-based application to better screen and manage their surgical patients. The goal of this review and assessment tool is not to determine a quantitative level of risk. Instead, the authors hope to facilitate a surgeon's awareness of critical preoperative risk factors and provide a tool to efficiently identify these factors and arrange appropriate treatment as needed.