Citations

Abstract Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare, inflammatory dermatologic condition characterized by painful cutaneous ulcerations. Herein, we describe the third documented case of PG arising in an elective plastic surgery patient who had undergone an otherwise uncomplicated facelift. We describe the course of her diagnosis and management of PG, which involved her face and neck and then progressed to her lower extremities. Although the etiology remains unknown, PG often arises in a host with another autoimmune disease. In the case described, the patient was diagnosed with an immunoglobulin A gammopathy shortly after she developed PG. Following the case report, the pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment strategy of PG is briefly reviewed. Level of Evidence: 5

Background: An understanding of financial trends is important to advance agreeable reimbursement models in plastic surgery. This study aimed to evaluate trends in Medicare reimbursement rates for the 20 most commonly billed reconstructive plastic surgery procedures from 2000 to 2019. Methods: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Physician and Other Supplier Public Use File was used to identify the 20 reconstructive procedures most commonly billed to Medicare by plastic surgeons in 2016. Reimbursement data were extracted from The Physician Fee Schedule Look-Up Tool from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for each CPT code. Monetary data were adjusted for inflation to 2019 U.S. dollars. Average annual and total percentage changes in reimbursement were calculated based on these adjusted trends. Results: The average adjusted reimbursement for all procedures decreased by 14.0 percent from 2000 to 2019. The greatest mean decrease was observed in complex wound repair of the scalp, arms, or legs (−33.2 percent). The only procedure with an increased adjusted reimbursement rate was layer-closure of the scalp, axillae, trunk, and/or extremities (6.5 percent). From 2000 to 2019, the adjusted reimbursement rate for all procedures decreased by an average of 0.8 percent annually. Conclusions: This is the first comprehensive study evaluating trends in Medicare reimbursement in plastic surgery. When adjusted for inflation, Medicare reimbursement for the included procedures has steadily decreased from 2000 to 2019. Increased consideration of these trends will be important for U.S. policymakers, hospitals, and surgeons to ensure continued access to meaningful reconstructive plastic surgery care.

Public trust in physicians has declined over the last 50 years. Future physicians will need to mend the patient–physician trust relationship. In conjunction with the American Medical Association’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative, the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine implemented the Science of Health Care Delivery (SHCD) curriculum—a 4-year curriculum that emphasizes interdisciplinary training across population-centered care; person-centered care; team-based care; high-value care; leadership; and health policy, economics, and technology—in 2015. In this medical student perspective, the authors highlight how the SHCD curriculum has the potential to address issues that have eroded patient–physician trust. The curriculum reaches this aim through didactic and/or experiential teachings in health equity, cultural humility and competence, shared decision making, patient advocacy, and safety and quality of care. It is the authors’ hope that novel medical education programs such as the SHCD curriculum will allow the nation’s future physicians to own their role in rebuilding and fostering public trust in physicians and the health care system.

The risks of systemic anti-coagulation or its reversal are well known but accepted as necessary under certain circumstances. However, particularly in the plastic surgical patient, systemic alteration to hemostasis is often unnecessary when local therapy could provide the needed adjustments. The aim of this review was to provide a summarized overview of the clinical applications of topical anti- and pro-coagulant therapy in plastic and reconstructive surgery. While not a robust field as of yet, local tranexamic acid (TXA) has shown promise in achieving hemostasis under various circumstances, hemostats are widely used to halt bleeding, and local anticoagulants such as heparin can improve flap survival. The main challenge to the advancement of local therapy is drug delivery. However, with increasingly promising innovations underway, the field will hopefully expand to the betterment of patient care.