A Word On Peer Review

There is a great profusion of medical information available for free on the Internet, and a lot of it is good. Yet even good information may not be completely useful to the reader who may not know if it is trustworthy. By contrast, there is also a lot of information of medical information available for sale that is produced by well known authors and organizations, though not always for free.

Orthopaedia aims to be both free and authoritative.

To ensure medical accuracy, all of the material was reviewed by the section editors, who are of course content experts of great renown. In addition, each chapter was reviewed by an expert who was not involved in the creation of the material. These reviewers were asked to read the chapter with one overriding goal in mind: to detect errors. The reviewers were then asked to “certify” the chapter as a reasonable presentation of the topic without any glaring mistakes in content. We are grateful to our reviewers, listed below:

• Arthritis of the Hand was reviewed by Dr. David R. Steinberg. Dr. Steinberg is a hand surgeon at the University of PA. He holds subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand

• Carpal fractures was reviewed by Dr. David Bozentka. Dr. Bozentka is a hand surgeon at the University of PA. He holds subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand

• Carpal instability was reviewed by Dr Bruce A. Monaghan. Dr Monaghan is a hand surgeon with Advanced Orthopaedic Centers in New Jersey. He holds subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome was reviewed by Dr Charles F. Leinberry. Dr. Leinberry is a hand surgeon at The Rothman Institute. He holds subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand

• Compression neuropathies of the arm and Flexor tendon injury was reviewed by Dr Jonas Matzon. Dr. Matzon is a hand surgeon at The Rothman Institute. He holds subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand

• DeQuervains disease was reviewed by Dr Philip Blazar. Dr. Blazar is a hand surgeon at Harvard Medical School. He holds subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand

• Disorders of the nail and Mallet finger and other finger extensor injuries was reviewed by Dr Robert Carrigan. Dr. Carrigan is a hand surgeon at the University of PA. He holds subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand

• Distal radius (Colles) fractures was reviewed by Dr Jaimo Ahn. Dr. Ahn is a fellowship trained orthopaedic trauma surgeon at the University of PA

• Dupuytren’s Disease and Finger and hand infections was reviewed by Dr Louis M. Adler. Dr. Adler is a hand surgeon with New England Orthopaedic Surgeons in Springfield, MA. He holds subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand

• Finger sprains and dislocations was reviewed by Dr Kirk L. Wong is a hand surgeon with Rebound Orthopedics and Neurosurgery in Washington. He holds subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand.

• Ganglion cysts of the hand and wrist was reviewed by Dr Lawrence Weber. Dr. Weber is a hand surgeon with Orthopaedic Specialists in Lake Charles, La. He has completed fellowship training in both hand as shoulder/elbow surgery

• Kienbock’s disease was reviewed by Dr Pedro Beredjiklian. Dr. Beredjiklian is a hand surgeon at The Rothman Institute. He holds subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand

• Medial and lateral epicondylitis of the elbow was reviewed by Dr Andrew Kuntz is a fellowship trained shoulder and elbow surgeon at the University of PA

• Metacarpal fractures was reviewed by Dr Robert Rhoad. Dr. Rhoad is a hand surgeon at Wellington Orthopaedics in Cincinnati. He holds subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand

• Olecranon bursitis was reviewed by Dr Vani Sabesan. Dr. Sabesan is a fellowship trained shoulder and elbow surgeon at Wayne State University

• Olecranon fractures was reviewed by Dr Samir Mehta. Dr. Mehta is a fellowship trained orthopaedic trauma surgeon at the University of PA

• Phalangeal (hand) fracture was reviewed by Dr Tamara Rozental. Dr. Rozental is a hand surgeon at Harvard Medical School. She holds subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand

• Radial Head Fracture was reviewed by Dr Martin Boyer. Dr. Boyer is a hand surgeon at Washington University, St Louis. He holds subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand

• Scaphoid fractures was reviewed by Dr Jennifer M. Wolf. Dr. Wolf is a hand surgeon at the University of Connecticut. She holds subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand

• TFCC injury was reviewed by Dr Ann Van Heest. Dr. Van Heest is a hand surgeon at the University of Minnesota. She holds subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand

• Trigger finger was reviewed by Dr Amy Ladd. Dr. Ladd is a hand surgeon at Stanford. She holds subspecialty certification in Surgery of the Hand

• Ulna shaft (and Both Bones) fractures was reviewed by Dr Derek Donegan. Dr. Donegan is a fellowship trained orthopaedic trauma surgeon at the University of PA

The material was also reviewed by the following volunteer medical students from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania:

(And yet a necessary disclaimer)

Peer review notwithstanding, this being 21st century America, we must include the following Disclaimer, similar to those found in works produced by well known authors and organizations.

This material was prepared for educational purposes only. We therefore disclaim any and all liability for any damages resulting to any individual which may arise out of the use of the material presented here. We similarly disclaim responsibility for any errors or omissions or for results obtained from the use of information contained here.

This material is not intended to represent the only, nor necessarily best, method or procedure appropriate for the medical situations discussed, but rather is intended to present an approach which may be helpful to others who face similar situations. We cannot can take any responsibility for the consequences following the application of any of the information presented here.

The information provided here cannot substitute for the advice of a medical professional. Even if a given statement is completely true in the abstract, it may not apply to a given patient.

The information we offer is provided “as is” and without warranty of any kind.