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 medical information available for sale that is produced by well-known authors and organizations, though not always for free. This volume 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:

• Christopher Arena, MD reviewed Achilles Tendon Disorders.  Dr. Arena is an Orthopaedic Surgeon affiliated with the Penn State Bone & Joint Institute.
• Nicole Belkin, MD reviewed Disorders of the Collateral Ligaments and Cruciate Ligament Injuries of the Knee.  Dr. Belkin is an orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at Columbia University.
• James Carey, MD reviewed Meniscus Tears and Chondral Injuries of the Knee.  Dr. Carey is an orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at the University of Pennsylvania.
• Michael Castro, DO reviewed Ankle Sprains. Dr. Castro is a Foot and Ankle Orthopaedic Surgeon at Summit Orthopedics.
• Steven Cohen, MD reviewed Disorders of the Elbow Ligaments and Osteochondral Injuries of the Elbow.  Dr. Cohen is an orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at the Rothman Institute.
• Kevin Freedman, MD reviewed Patellofemoral Pain and Patellar Instability.  Dr. Freedman is an orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at the Rothman Institute.
• Sommer Hammoud, MD reviewed Adhesive Capsulitis and Glenohumeral Instability.  Dr. Hammoud is an orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at the Rothman Institute.
• Paul Juliano, MD reviewed Achilles Tendon Disorders. Dr Juliano is a Foot and Ankle Orthopaedic Surgeon, Professor, Vice Chairman, Residency Director at Penn States Hershey Bone and Joint Institute.
• Rahul Kapur, MD reviewed Stress Fractures and the Female Athletic Triad.  Dr Kapur is a family and sports medicine physician at the University of Minnesota.
• John D. Kelly IV, MD reviewed Scapulothoracic Disorders.  Dr. Kelly is an orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at the University of Pennsylvania.
• Andrew Kuntz, MD reviewed Epicondylitis of the Elbow. Dr. Kuntz is a fellowship trained shoulder and elbow surgeon at the University of PA.
• Andrew Milby, MD reviewed Burners and Stingers and Spondylolysis and Spondylolisthesis.  Dr. Milby is a spine surgeon at Emory University.
• Kevin O’Donnell, MD reviewed Disorders of the Rotator Cuff and Glenohumeral Arthritis.  Dr. O’Donnell is an orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist in private practice.
• John Salvo, MD reviewed Tendon Disorders of the Hip and Thigh and Labral Tears of the Hip and Femoroacetabular Impingement.  Dr. Salvo is an orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at the Rothman Institute.
• John Scolaro, MD reviewed Proximal Humerus Fractures and Clavicle Fractures. Dr. Scolaro is an orthopaedic traumatologist at the University of California, Irvine.
• Fotios Tjoumakaris, MD reviewed Disorders of the Biceps and Triceps. Dr. Tjoumakaris  is an orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at the Rothman Institute.
• Bradford Tucker, MD reviewed Disorders of the Extensor Mechanism. Dr. Tucker is an orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at the Rothman Institute.
• Pramod Voleti, MD reviewed Disorders of the AC Joint and Bursitis of the Knee. Dr. Voleti is an orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
• Miltiadis Zgonis, MD reviewed Disorders of the Glenoid Labrum. Dr. Zgonis  is an orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at the University of Pennsylvania.

The material was also reviewed by the following students from the  Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania:

• Alexander Beschloss
• Joshua T.  Bram
• Olivia G. Cohen
• Mitchell Johnson
• Ariana Meltzer-Bruhn
• Anchi B. Numfor
• Steven D. Tsai

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.