BACKGROUND Traumatic hand injuries represent approximately 20% of emergency department visits; yet, access to emergency care remains inadequate. Recent surveys from several states report a wider availability of hand specialists providing elective care than emergency care. The authors aim to examine this phenomenon in the state of New Jersey and whether there is a national trend toward dispropor...

Hand surgery in Canada versus tHe united states Since the introduction of universal health care in Canada approximately 30 years ago, every patient with a hand injury has received the same care, regardless of their financial status or their place of employment. Although future changes to the health care system in the United States (US) may occur during the current administration, it does not ap...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to compare two techniques for surgical site skin preparation in hand surgery. METHODS We compared the standard sponge paint technique versus a plastic bag immersion technique using a 10% povidone-iodine with alcohol solution (Betadine, ORION Laboratories Pty Ltd, Balcatta,WA,Australia) to prepare surgical site skin for hand surgery. This sterile bag rubbin...

Department for Plastic Surgery and Hand Surgery, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University Munich, Germany Department of Plastic and Hand Surgery, University of Lübeck, Germany Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Hand Surgery Division, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China *These authors contributed equally to this work **Corresp...