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Intercarpal ligament injuries such as scapholunate and lunotriquetral tears are common causes of wrist pain. There is no shortage of surgical techniques to address these injuries, nor is there a lack of literature exploring this topic. However, research progress has not led to a consensus regarding the optimal management of subacute and chronic injuries without articular wear. The senior author (K.C.C.) has performed the spectrum of reconstructive techniques, including dorsal and volar approaches, tendon weaves, ligament tenodesis procedures, reduction and association procedures, and bone-ligament-bone techniques. In the absence of convincing, consistent outcomes, the authors began investigating a novel all-dorsal reconstructive technique using the Arthrex InternalBrace system. The complexity and unpredictable outcomes associated with traditional ligament tenodesis procedures led them to adopt the all-dorsal InternalBrace technique as their primary reconstructive approach. The authors have performed more than 20 procedures with this technique since 2019. In an average tourniquet time of under 60 minutes, they are able to achieve predictable carpal stabilization, pain relief, and restoration of motion. This is the preferred reconstructive approach of the senior author.

The availability of advanced telecommunication technology and the social restrictions introduced by a global pandemic have compelled the medical community to explore new avenues of surgical education. Although cadaver courses have long been a fundamental method for learning surgical anatomy and improving operative preparedness, the COVID-19 pandemic has made traditional dissections less practical. The need for quality virtual learning experiences motivated the authors to design and assess the feasibility of organizing a live, virtual upper extremity peripheral nerve cadaver dissection course. Three phases were critical when developing the course: preplanning, planning, and execution. The success of the live, virtual cadaver dissection depended not only on a detailed curriculum, but the technological audio-video-internet needs to effectively communicate and interact with the viewers. Virtual learning mitigates the risks of in-person dissection courses during a global pandemic and can be enhanced with interactive media (e.g., illustrations and schematics) to augment learning experiences.

Lateral epicondylitis is a common enthesopathy, possibly caused by overuse and repetitive activity. Although nonoperative management is the primary approach for treating lateral epicondylitis, clinical guidelines and the literature fail to identify the most effective nonoperative treatment. Therefore, the authors conducted a network meta-analysis to compare the effectiveness of physical therapy and electrophysiotherapy treatments for the treatment of lateral epicondylitis.The authors searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Scopus for peer-reviewed randomized controlled trials evaluating the effectiveness of physical therapy and electrophysiotherapy treatments. Data related to article characteristics and outcomes (grip strength and pain visual analog scale score) were collected.Twenty-three clinical trials including 1363 participants (mean age ± SD, 47.4 ± 7.5 years; 53.1 percent women) were included in this study. Pain visual analog scale demonstrated significant reductions in scores after treatment with magnetic field [mean difference (95 percent CI), -1.88 (-2.66 to -1.11)], exercise [-0.90 (-1.69 to -0.1)], and acoustic waves [-0.83 (-1.37 to -0.29)] compared with placebo. For grip strength, no treatment modality was found to be significantly effective. A sensitivity analysis that excluded studies with high publication bias and high degrees of heterogeneity produced similar results to the main analysis with the exception of statistically improved grip strength after light therapy [mean difference (95 percent CI), 5.38 (1.71 to 9.04)] and acoustic wave therapy [7.79 (2.44 to 13.15)].Electrophysiotherapy treatments should be prioritized over physical therapy. Magnetic field therapy was associated with pain reduction, whereas acoustic wave and light therapy were associated with increased grip strength.Therapeutic, II.

Ethical discourse in the scientific community facilitates the humane conduct of research. The urgent response to COVID-19 has rapidly generated a large body of literature to help policymakers and physicians address novel pandemic challenges. Plastic surgeons, in particular, have to manage the postponement of elective procedures and safely provide care for non-COVID-19 patients. Although COVID-19 research may provide guidance on these challenges, the extent to which ethical discussions are present in these publications remains unknown.Articles were identified systematically by searching the PubMed, Embase, Central, and Scopus databases using search terms related to ethics and COVID-19. The search included articles published during the first 9 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. The following data were extracted: presence of an ethical discussion, date of publication, topic of ethical discussion, and scientific discipline of the article.One thousand seven hundred fifty-three articles were included, of which seven were related to plastic surgery. The ethical principle with the greatest representation was nonmaleficence, whereas autonomy had the least representation. Equity and access to care was the most common topic of ethical discussion; the mental health effects of COVID-19 were the least common. The principle of justice had the greatest variation in representation.In a systematic review of COVID-19-related articles that were published during the first 9 months of the pandemic, the ethical principles of autonomy and justice are neglected in ethical discussions. As ethical dilemmas related to COVID-19 remain prevalent in plastic surgery, attention to ethical discourse should remain a top priority for leaders in the field.

Numerous surgical reconstructive techniques have been described for chronic scapholunate and lunotriquetral interosseous ligament instability.The authors retrospectively reviewed 16 consecutive patients who underwent bone-ligament-bone reconstruction for scapholunate or lunotriquetral intraosseous ligament predynamic and dynamic instability at a single tertiary care institution from 2013 to 2019. Clinical and radiographic outcomes, and complications, were recorded.Eleven patients had bone-ligament-bone reconstruction for scapholunate ligament injuries and five for lunotriquetral instability. Fourteen patients (87.5 percent) underwent diagnostic arthroscopy before bone-ligament-bone reconstruction, with nine of 14 having grade 3 and four of 14 having grade 4 injury. Capitohamate bone-ligament-bone grafts were used in nine patients (56 percent) and the graft was taken from Lister tubercle in seven (44 percent). The average age at surgery was 37 years. The average follow-up was 60.6 weeks. There were no significant differences between preoperative and postoperative radiographic parameters. Median postoperative wrist flexion was 45 degrees, and mean postoperative wrist extension was 53 degrees, which were significantly less than contralateral flexion (85 degrees; p0.0001) and extension (78 degrees; p0.0001). Thirty-eight percent of patients complained of persistent pain at final follow-up, and two patients (13 percent) underwent salvage procedures, both at approximately 6.5 months after the index reconstruction.Short-term outcomes of bone-ligament-bone reconstruction for early-stage scapholunate and lunotriquetral ligament injuries reveal many patients with residual postoperative wrist pain and disability, and almost uniform limitations in flexion-extension motion.Therapeutic, IV.

SUMMARY Virtual education is a promising tool for expanding surgical training and continuing education. The authors present their preferred platforms for virtual surgical education, and discuss security and privacy concerns. Maintaining communication and keeping sessions engaging require special consideration when education is done virtually. The limitations to virtual education may soon be mitigated by new technologies. In this article, the authors aim to describe the benefits, current modalities, tips for use, and future directions for virtual education as it pertains to plastic surgeons and trainees during the current coronavirus pandemic.

BACKGROUND The Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire is a patient-reported outcome measure that has been validated in many upper extremity disorders using classic test theory. Rasch measurement analysis is a rigorous method of questionnaire validation that offers several advantages over classic test theory and was used to assess the psychometric properties of the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire. This study used Rasch analysis to evaluate the questionnaire for distal radius fractures in older adults. The incidence and costs of distal radius fractures are rising, and reliable assessment tools are needed to measure outcomes in this growing concern. METHODS Rasch analysis was performed using 6-month assessment data from the Wrist and Radius Injury Surgical Trial. Each domain in the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire was independently analyzed for threshold ordering, person-item targeting, item fit, differential-item functioning, response dependency, unidimensionality, and internal consistency. RESULTS After collapsing disordered thresholds and removing any misfitting items from the model, five domains (Function, Activities of Daily Living, Work, Pain, and Satisfaction) demonstrated excellent fit to the Rasch model. The Aesthetics domain demonstrated high reliability and internal consistency but had poor fit to the Rasch model. CONCLUSIONS Rasch analysis further supports the reliability and validity of using the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire to assess hand outcomes in older adults following treatment for distal radius fractures. Results from this study suggest that questionnaire scores should be interpreted in a condition-specific manner, with more emphasis placed on interpreting individual domain scores, rather than the summary Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire score.

SUMMARY Evidence-based medicine, as described by Dr. Sackett, is defined as the "conscientious, explicit, and judicious use of current best evidence, combined with individual clinical expertise and patient preferences and values, in making decisions about the care of individual patients." In the late 2000s, seminal articles in Clinics in Plastic Surgery and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery introduced evidence-based medicine's role in plastic surgery and redefined varying levels of evidence. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons sponsored the Colorado Springs Evidence-Based Medicine Summit that set forth a consensus statement and action plan regarding the increased incorporation of evidence-based medicine into the field; this key meeting ushered a new era among plastic surgeons worldwide. Over the past decade, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery has incorporated evidence-based medicine into the Journal through an increase in articles with level I and II evidence, new sections of the Journal, and the introduction of validated tools to help authors perform prospective and randomized studies that ultimately led to best practices used today. Plastic surgery is a specialty built on problem-solving and innovation, values starkly in-line with evidence-based medicine. Evidence-based medicine is becoming more ingrained in our everyday practice and plastic surgery culture; however, we must work actively to ensure that we continue this trend. In the next decade, we will possibly see that level I and II evidence articles start to inhabit many of our journal issues.

Background Opioids are commonly used following outpatient surgery. However, we understand little about patients' perspectives and how patients decide on postoperative opioid use. This study seeks to investigate aspects of patients' thought processes that most impact their decisions. Methods The authors conducted semistructured interviews with 30 adults undergoing minor elective hand surgery at one tertiary hospital. Narratives were content-coded to arrive at the authors' thematic analysis. The authors incorporated Bandura's concept of self-agency to interpret the data and develop a conceptual framework that best explained the implicit theory within participants' responses. Results The authors found six themes under two domains of self-agency. Participants actively sought out protective mechanisms supporting their decision on opioid use, but sometimes did so unconsciously. They would avoid opioids postoperatively because they were "tough" and wanted to evade the risk of addiction as "good citizens." They conveyed a nuanced safety against addiction because they were "not the kind" to become addicted and because they trusted the surgeons' prescribing. However, participants felt discouraged by the stigma associated with opioids. Both intentionally and unintentionally, participants integrated a strong sense of self in their decision-making processes. Conclusions A robust understanding of how patients choose to take opioids for postoperative pain control is imperative to develop patient-centered strategies to treat the opioid epidemic. Effective opioid-reduction policies should consider patients as active agents who negotiate various internal and external influences in their decision-making processes. Surgeons must incorporate patients' individual goals and perspectives regarding postoperative opioid use to minimize opioid-related harm after surgery.

SUMMARY The ambiguity of medical finances, both to the patient and to the provider, has direct effects on the quality of care that is delivered to the patient. To encourage transparency in health care, physician reimbursement is a process that must be understood to ensure patient satisfaction, a physician's willingness to deliver care, and the success of health care facilities. Furthermore, physicians should be aware of the effects that legislative action, such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, has on their income. As a field that encompasses both cosmetic and reconstructive surgery, plastic surgeons must know this process intimately to ensure efficient services and appropriate reimbursement. In particular, plastic surgeons should be familiar with how the Affordable Care Act affects their income, practice, and the patient's access to care. As Medicare and Medicaid continue to increase health care access for many Americans, specialists such as plastic surgeons will need to reinforce the value of the specialty in the continuum of care. As the health care industry moves away from a fee-for-service system to one of value-based care, plastic surgeons need to be at the forefront of this transition to ensure that they are delivering quality care, and receiving appropriate reimbursement. The authors have provided data from the University of Michigan to demonstrate the reimbursement patterns seen in plastic surgery. This Special Topic article provides insight into the reimbursement process in the era of the Affordable Care Act and the various challenges that may be encountered within this field.

Background In this systematic review, the authors report on the current state of health disparities research in plastic surgery and consider how equity-oriented interventions are taking shape at the patient, provider, and health care system levels. Methods The authors performed a systematic literature search of the PubMed/MEDLINE and Embase databases using search terms related to the social determinants of both health and plastic surgery. Two independent reviewers screened the article titles and abstracts for relevance and identified the plastic surgery focus and study characteristics of the included literature. The articles were then categorized as detecting, understanding, or reducing health disparities according to a conceptual framework. This review was conducted in line with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis guidelines. Results One hundred forty-seven articles published between 1997 and 2019 met the inclusion criteria. Health disparities research in gender-affirming, craniofacial, cosmetic, and hand surgery was lacking relative to breast reconstruction. Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities were reported across subspecialties. Place of residence was also a large determinant of access to care and quality of surgical outcomes. Half of the included studies were in the detecting phase of research. Meanwhile, 40 and 10 percent were in the understanding and reducing phases, respectively. Conclusions Investigators suggested several avenues for reducing health disparities in plastic surgery, yet there is limited evidence on the actual effectiveness of equity-oriented initiatives. More comprehensive research is needed to disentangle the patient, provider, and system-level factors that underlie inequity across subspecialties.

BACKGROUND Management of suspected scaphoid fractures includes repeated evaluation and casting in symptomatic patients with nondiagnostic radiographs. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, the authors compare the diagnostic accuracy of clinical examinations for scaphoid fractures and create a decision guide using Bayesian statistics. METHODS The MEDLINE, Embase, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature databases were queried for studies that evaluated clinical index tests and their diagnostic accuracies for scaphoid fracture. Summary estimates were achieved by a bivariate random effects model and used in Bayes' theorem. The authors varied the scaphoid fracture prevalence for sensitivity analysis. RESULTS Fourteen articles with 22 index tests and 1940 patients were included. Anatomical snuffbox pain/tenderness (11 studies, 1363 patients), pain with axial loading (eight studies, 995 patients), and scaphoid tubercle tenderness (five studies, 953 patients) had sufficient data for pooled analysis. Anatomical snuffbox pain/tenderness was the most sensitive test (0.93; 95 percent CI, 0.87 to 0.97), and pain with axial loading was the most specific test (0.66; 95 percent CI, 0.41 to 0.85), but all three tests had lower estimated specificities compared with sensitivities. In the base case, the probability of fracture was approximately 60 percent when a patient presented with all three findings after acute wrist injury. CONCLUSIONS The posttest probability of scaphoid fracture was sensitive to both prevalence and diagnostic accuracy of individual clinical index tests. In a population with a fracture prevalence of 20 percent, patients presenting with concurrent anatomical snuffbox pain/tenderness, pain on axial loading, and scaphoid tubercle tenderness may benefit from early advanced imaging to rule out scaphoid fractures if initial radiographs are nondiagnostic. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Diagnostic, II.

BACKGROUND Lateral epicondylitis is a common overuse injury affecting approximately 1 to 3 percent of the population. Although symptoms may disappear spontaneously within 1 year, the clinical guidelines for conservative treatment are not clear. The authors' objective was to examine the outcomes of nonsurgical treatments for lateral epicondylitis through a meta-analysis and provide a treatment recommendation using the available evidence. METHODS The authors searched the PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and Web of Science databases to identify primary research articles studying conservative treatments (electrophysiotherapy, physical therapy, and injections) for lateral epicondylitis. The authors included randomized controlled trials published in peer-reviewed journals. Data related to outcomes (pain, grip strength, Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation score, and Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand score) and complications were extracted. RESULTS Fifty-eight randomized controlled trials were included in the meta-analysis. Electrophysiotherapy was effective in improving pain [mean difference, -10.0 (95 percent CI, -13.8 to -6.1)], Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation score [mean difference, -10.7 (95 percent CI, -16.3 to -5.0)], and Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand score [mean difference, -11.9 (95 percent CI, -15.8 to -7.9)]; and physical therapy improved pain [mean difference, -6.0 (95 percent CI, -9.7 to -2.3)] and Patient-Rated Tennis Elbow Evaluation scores [mean difference, -7.5 (95 percent CI, -11.8 to -3.2)] compared to placebo. Injections did not improve any outcome measures. Patients who received electrophysiotherapy and injections reported higher adverse effects than physical therapy patients. CONCLUSIONS Patients who received electrophysiotherapy and physical therapy reported statistically and clinically improved scores in pain and function compared to placebo. Injections may put patients at higher risk for adverse effects compared to other conservative treatments. When managing lateral epicondylitis conservatively, electrophysiotherapy and physical therapy should be prioritized before other interventions. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Therapeutic, I.

BACKGROUND Evidence-based practices in medicine are linked with a higher quality of care and lower health care cost. For trigger finger, identifying patient factors associated with nonadherence to evidence-based practices will aid physicians in treatment decisions. The objectives were to (1) determine patient factors associated with treatment nonadherence, (2) examine the success rates of steroid injections, and (3) evaluate the economic consequences of nonadherence to treatment recommendations. METHODS The authors used data from the Clinformatics DataMart database from 2010 to 2017 to conduct a population-based analysis of patients with single-digit trigger finger. The authors calculated rates of steroid injection success and examined associations between injection success and patient factors using chi-square tests. In addition, the authors analyzed differences in the cost to the insurer, the cost to the patient, and total cost. RESULTS A total of 29,722 patients were included in this analysis. Injection success rates were similar for diabetic (72 percent) and nondiabetic patients (73 percent), women (73 percent), and men (73 percent). Nonetheless, diabetics (OR, 1.4; 95 percent CI, 1.4 to 1.5; p < 0.001) and women (OR, 1.2; 95 percent CI, 1.1 to 1.2; p < 0.001) were significantly more likely to receive nonadherent treatment. In total, $23 million (U.S. dollars) were spent on nonadherent trigger finger care. CONCLUSIONS Diabetics and women have increased odds of having surgery without a prior steroid injection, despite similar success rates of steroid injections compared to nondiabetics and men. Because performing surgical release before any steroid injections may represent a higher cost treatment option, providers should provide steroid injections before surgery for all patients regardless of diabetes status or sex to minimize overtreatment. CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE Risk, III.

BACKGROUND: Optimal treatment for distal radius fractures (DRFs) in older adults remains uncertain. No randomized trials comparing the most frequently used treatments in this population have been conducted. Surgical treatment rates vary widely, though the sustained benefits of surgery are uncertain. METHODS: The Wrist and Radius Injury Surgical Trial (WRIST), randomized, multicenter trial, enrolled 304 adults age 60 years and older with isolated, unstable DRFs at 24 institutions. Patients who wanted surgery (n=187) were randomized to internal fixation with volar plate (VLPS), external fixation (EFP), or percutaneous pinning; patients who preferred conservative management (n=117) received casting. The primary outcome was the 12-month Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire (MHQ) Summary score. Secondary outcomes included MHQ domain scores and radiographic parameters. RESULTS: At 12 months, there were no differences by treatment in primary or the majority of secondary outcomes. Twelve-month MHQ Summary scores differed between VLPS and EFP by 3 points (97.5% CL: −6.0, 11.5) and between VLPS and pinning by −0.14(−9.2,8.9). However, at 6 weeks, mean MHQ Summary score for VLPS was greater than EFP by 19(p

Quality improvement efforts at the federal level have instituted both rewards and penalties as incentives to improve health care quality. However, neither of these methods has shown long-lasting improvements. Furthermore, many programs have focused on decreasing mortality or hospital readmissions, measurements that are not applicable to many surgical fields, including plastic surgery. One model that has been shown to be effective is a collaborative quality initiative that uses a pay-for-participation method whereby participants learn from one another and institute changes to improve patient care. Many of these changes are process measures that are easier to implement and quicker to show improvement than structural or outcome measures. Regional collaborative quality initiatives have been developed in other surgical specialties such as bariatric surgery and urology. Currently, the authors are establishing a new collaborative quality initiative for hand surgery: the Michigan Collaborative Hand Initiative for Quality in Surgery. It is a collaboration of nine sites with the goal of identifying areas that are in need of quality improvement in hand surgery and implementing measures to improve on them. The authors believe that collaborative quality initiatives will promote high-quality care and should be incorporated into the field of plastic surgery.

Research bias, or the systematic errors of a study, can arise before, during, or after a trial ends. These biases hinder the internal validity of the study, which is the accuracy of a study's conclusions regarding the effects of an intervention on a given group of subjects. With the growing use of evidence-based medicine, there is a demand for high-quality evidence from the research community. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials are considered the highest level of evidence, followed by individual randomized controlled trials. However, most surgical trials cannot be conducted as randomized controlled trials because of factors such as patient preferences and lack of equipoise among surgeons. Therefore, surgical trials may lack features that are held as important standards for high-quality evidence, such as randomization and blinding. To demonstrate the biases that surgical trials may encounter, the authors examined a prospective cohort study, the Silicone Arthroplasty in Rheumatoid Arthritis study. The authors focus on the challenges that arise during a surgical trial, including the design, implementation, and methods used to report the clinical evidence. By recognizing and addressing obstacles that exist in research, investigators will provide health care providers with high-quality evidence needed to make well-informed, evidence-based clinical decisions.

Background Hand surgeons can alleviate the burden associated with various congenital anomalies, burn sequelae, and trauma that debilitate individuals in low- and middle-income countries. Because few surgeons in these areas have the necessary resources to perform complex hand surgery, surgical trips provide essential surgical care. The authors aimed to determine the economic benefit of hand surgical trips to low- and middle-income countries to comprehensively determine the economic implications of hand surgery trips in low-resource settings. Methods The authors collected data from two major global hand surgery organizations to analyze the economic benefit of hand surgery trips in low- and middle-income countries. The authors used both the human capital approach and the value of a statistical life-year approach to conduct this cost-benefit analysis. To demonstrate the economic gain, the authors subtracted the budgeted cost of each trip from the economic benefit. Results The authors analyzed a total of 15 trips to low- and middle-income countries. The costs of the trips ranged from $3453 to $87,434 (average, $24,869). The total cost for all the surgical trips was $373,040. The authors calculated a net economic benefit of $3,576,845 using the human capital approach and $8,650,745 using the value of a statistical life-year approach. Conclusions The authors found a substantial return on investment using both the human capital approach and the value of a statistical life-year approach. In addition, the authors found that trips emphasizing education had a net economic benefit. Cost-benefit analyses have substantial financial implications and will aid policy makers in developing cost-reduction strategies to promote surgery in low- and middle-income countries.

Randomized controlled trials are becoming increasingly difficult to organize and conduct efficiently. This, in turn, hinders the ability to derive the highest level of evidence. Often, investigators forget or remain unaware of essential practices that will help them fulfill their study goals. This article emphasizes the common issues that a study team experiences during the planning and conducting of randomized controlled trials. The authors sought to share remedies to overcome these issues with the experience garnered in conducting several multicenter clinical trials and observational studies. In addition, the authors list resources from sponsors such as the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that study teams can apply to undertake studies effectively.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has confronted the U.S. health care system with unprecedented challenges amidst a tenuous economic environment. As inpatient hospitals across the country prepare for an overwhelming influx of highly contagious COVID-19 cases, many nonemergent procedures have been cancelled or indefinitely postponed without guidance regarding eventual safe accommodation of these procedures in the future. Given the potentially prolonged impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health care use, it is imperative for plastic surgeons to collaborate with other medical and surgical specialties to develop surge capacity protocols that allow continuation of safe, high-quality, nonemergent procedures. The purpose of this article is to provide necessary and timely public health information relevant to plastic surgery and also share a conceptual framework to guide surge capacity protocols for nonemergent surgery.

Background The Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire has been widely used for nearly 20 years to assess patients with a variety of hand and upper extremity conditions. However, normative data have not previously been collected, limiting interpretation. Methods The Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire was administered to 579 participants recruited from the general population. In addition, participants were asked to identify any problem affecting their hand(s), including trauma, hand disease/condition, systemic illness, or nonspecific symptoms. Comorbidities and demographic data were also collected. Results Total Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire score for healthy individuals was indicative of generally good hand function (95.2; 95 percent CI, 94.3 to 96.1). Individuals with unilateral trauma scored for their affected hand (90.3; 95 percent CI, 87.9 to 92.6) lower than their healthy hand (mean difference, 5.7; 95 percent CI, 3.2 to 8.3). For individuals with and without hand trauma, total Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire score decreased with increasing number of comorbidities. Many of the differences in Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire score between the problem hand and unaffected hand were smaller than the minimal clinically important difference of 3.0 to 23.0 for known abnormalities of the hand and upper extremity. Conclusions These normative data provide appropriate baseline information for individuals with and without underlying hand conditions. Most notably, these findings suggest that individuals with a unilateral problem establish new subnormative values for both their affected and unaffected hands. These data will encourage an appropriate understanding of the results of future studies using the Michigan Hand Outcomes Questionnaire.

The purpose of this study was to perform a cost-utility analysis to compare revision amputation and replantation treatment of finger amputation injuries across a spectrum of injury scenarios.The study was conducted from the societal perspective. Decision tree models were created for the reference case (two-finger amputation injury) and seven additional injury scenarios for comparison. Inputs included cost, quality of life, and probability of each health state. A Web-based time trade-off survey was created to determine quality-adjusted life-years for health states; 685 nationally representative adult community members were invited to participate in the survey. Overall cost and quality-adjusted life-years for revision amputation and replantation were calculated for each decision tree. An incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was calculated if a treatment was more costly but more effective.The authors had a 64 percent response rate (n = 437). Replantation treatment had greater costs and quality-adjusted life-years compared with revision amputation in all injury scenarios. Replantation of single-digit injuries had the highest incremental cost-effectiveness ratio ($136,400 per quality-adjusted life-year gained). Replantation of three- and four-digit amputation injuries had relatively low cost-to-benefit ratios ($27,100 and $23,800 per quality-adjusted life-year, respectively). Replantation for distal thumb amputation had a relatively low incremental cost-effectiveness ratio ($26,300 per quality-adjusted life-year) compared with replantation of nonthumb distal amputations ($60,200 per quality-adjusted life-year).The relative cost per quality-adjusted life-year gained with replantation treatment varied greatly among the injury scenarios. Situations in which indications for replantation are debated had higher cost per quality-adjusted life-year gained. This study highlights variability in value for replantation among different injury scenarios.

Many instructional guides have been published on how to write scientific papers. Likewise, many published articles have focused on the reasons why submitted manuscripts are rejected. However, fewer publications have been presented to guide authors on how to address reviewers' comments in a manuscript revision. Even fewer counsel authors on how to deal with a rejection decision. In this article, the authors present a literature review on the strategies to get a manuscript accepted, despite an initial unfavorable review. The authors share their experience with addressing reviewers' comments to get a manuscript accepted and published. Finally, the authors discuss the process of peer review and offer tips on how to be an effective peer reviewer.