Southern California Society for Surgery of the Hand (SCSSH) Award for the Journal of Hand Surgery 2012 Article of the Year

Abstract

Each year at our annual journal club meeting, members of the Southern California Society for Surgery of the Hand (SCSSH) 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 2012 Journal volume. As always, there were numerous outstanding articles to consider. Our selection for 2012, “Opioid Consumption Following Outpatient Upper Extremity Surgery,”1Rogers J. Cunningham K. Fitzgerald K. et al.Opioid consumption following outpatient upper extremity surgery.J Hand Surg Am. 2012; 37A: 645-650Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF Scopus (286) Google Scholar was based on the fact that this article dealt with a topic pertinent to all hand and upper extremity surgeons. We acknowledge the extreme relevance of this article, given the current epidemic of opioid abuse in our nation. Furthermore, it is our hope that this article's findings will decrease the number of postoperative opioids prescribed and possibly keep unnecessary opioids out of the general circulation. We commend the authors for their excellent study and important contribution to the Journal.