It is human nature to practice things that we are already good at doing. If you’re a golfer, then you know what I’m talking about. I hit the driver over and over again on the range, but never practice hitting the bad lie in the bunker, or the half-swing wedge from a tight lie. I sink hundreds of 3 footers, but can’t putt into this range from 50 feet. I’ve gotten much better at golf since I started playing, but my scores have hardly gone down.
I think a similar thing happens in our orthopedic practices. I read everything I can on the anterior cruciate ligament, yet I already feel comfortable with my reconstruction technique. I skim, or avoid reading altogether, articles about topics I don’t like to treat, like the hand or spine. Yet, I still see these things every day in my practice and on call. If my depth of knowledge in these areas was as good as it is in sports medicine, I could provide better, more immediate care to my patients, rather than refer them to subspecialists.
A perfect orthopedic example would be the patellofemoral joint. One of the least enjoyable patient encounters for me is the young adult with normal alignment and intractable anterior knee pain that does not respond to nonoperative treatment. I’m concerned any surgical intervention may make them worse and I’m often left without much to offer the patient.
It’s for this reason AJO has partnered with Dr. Jack Farr to produce the patellofemoral issue; to provide a comprehensive guide to the latest thinking in the treatment of patellofemoral disorders (see the March/April 2017 issue). We solicited so much outstanding content, that a single issue could not hold all of the articles. In this issue, our patellofemoral series continues with 3 outstanding articles. Magnussen presents "Patella Alta Sees You, Do You See It?" and Hinckel and colleagues have authored a guide to patellofemoral cartilage restoration. Unal and colleagues follow-up with a review of the lateral retinaculum.
In our "Codes to Know" section, we reexamine diagnostic arthroscopy, a code most of us have billed infrequently. New technologies, however, have made it possible to peer into the joint in the office, and McMillan and colleagues teach us how to make it economically feasible, even for employed physicians.
Finally, we have a number of great articles on difficult problems—the stiff elbow, complex distal radius fractures, and intraoperative acetabular fractures during total hip arthroplasty.
Please enjoy this issue and think about what topics you tend to shy away from. I’m willing to bet you can add the most to your practice by studying up on these topics. As always, please provide your feedback to our editorial team so that we can continue to make improvements to our journal. We envision a change in the way orthopedists utilize a journal in their practice, and are continuously looking for ways to make AJO a more relevant tool for improving your patient care and workflow. We are working hard to give our readers the journal they deserve, but in my spare time, I’ll be brushing up on trochleoplasties and half-swing wedges.