acromiopasty

[Karen Hillyer]

HEAR HEAR CAROLYN !

[admin]

As I mentioned previously, there ARE others doing the acromioplasty. This is a portion of the email I received from Cincinnati.

"At Cincinnati Children's we are aware of and informed of the anterior capsule release due to a recent visit from Dr. Kozin. We have not yet incorporated that into our practice. We currently do the same procedures as the capsulodesis and acromioplasty although don't necessary use that same terminology.

Brachial Plexus Center
Cincinnati Children's Hosptial"

[katep]

can anyone say what these procedures might be called in the medical literature? Pubmed doesn't recognize any of these terms, even: coracoidectomy/corocoidectomy, acromioplasty

What should I search for if I want to find published articles?

Kate

[katep]

Sorry, I should say I can find lots of articles on acromioplasty, but not ones that apply to brachial plexus injured kids.

Kate

[Karen Hillyer]

I think this is the major difficulty Kate
no-one seems to be writing papers about these procedures

[katep]

I can find reference to a caps procedure on their website, but wasn't able to find anything on acromion overgrowth surgery.

So I asked Cincinnati's brachial plexus clinic this question 6/16/4:

"I have heard that Cincinnati does the acromioplasty operation, although that is not apparently what you call it. Are there any references in the literature on this operation? How can I find out more about it and what results have been reported? Any help you can give me would be appreciated."

Their response 6/18/04:

"Sorry for the delay but wanted to discuss this with Dr. Mehlman (Orthopedic Surgery) to make sure I was accurate with the information.

We do not do this particular surgery here at Cincinnati Children's. Our practice is very evidence based and there is not specific evidence as to the benefit of this procedure.

Clinical Coordinator
Brachial Plexus Center
Cincinnati Children's Hospital"

[admin]

Interesting Kate, I asked the same question to a doctor who is very familiar with their work and was told they did not do the same procedure. Thank you very much for sharing accurate information, quoted from the direct source. In all honesty, sometimes these boards make me a little nervous, especially when many parents assume what is written here is accurate information. This is often not the case. It is always very important to do your own homework and not take what you read at face value.

[admin]

Well that's interesting, the email the clinical coordinator sent me was dated 2/4/2004. I guess she wasn't up on what they were doing or NOT doing? Boy, that sure makes me feel comfortable.

[admin]

I personally spoke with a doctor that knows there work well and the procedures they are currently doing. He said they are certainly not performing that surgery and that we are receiving misinformation.

I think this is a very important reminder to all of us. We really should not take things on this message board with a grain of salt. Often times I read things that I know are inaccurate and misleading. I think it would be in our children's best interest, to be very objective and to do our own research. I find it worrisome when I know some parents take information here and make very important decisions without truly researching for themselves.

Kate, thank you for following up on this. I appreciate your informing us of your direct findings.