Southern California Society for Surgery of the Hand Award for the Journal of Hand Surgery 2013 Article of the Year

Abstract

Each year at our annual journal club meeting, members of the Southern California Society for Surgery of the Hand recognize the Journal of Hand Surgery article that we considered to have provided the best clinical contribution from the previous calendar year. The selection criteria for this recognition include an article that is clinically relevant, is most likely to alter the future practice of hand surgery, and may, in time, become a landmark article. The present selection was taken from our analysis of the 2013 JHS volume. As always, there were several excellent articles to consider. Our selection for 2013, “The impact of antiplatelet medication on hand and wrist surgery,” by Ljiljana Bogunovic, MD, et al (J Hand Surg Am. 2013;38(6):1063–1070), concluded that bleeding-related perioperative complications were rare when continuing antiplatelet medications without interruption for hand or wrist surgery. We chose this article because it deals with a subject pertinent to all hand surgeons and provides valuable guidance to surgeons, internists, and cardiologists when making perioperative decisions in this complex patient population. Furthermore, it is our hope that this article’s findings will help prevent potential cardiovascular or thromboembolic complications that may result from unnecessary stoppage of antiplatelet medication in hand surgery patients. We commend the authors for their excellent study and important contribution to the Journal.