LER: Pediatrics – February 2014

Click on image to download the complete supplement in its original form PDF

Click on image to download the complete supplement in its original form PDF

Editor Message

1Limb-Jordana-nolabel

Shaping the future

One of the most rewarding aspects of pediatric lower extremity care is the knowledge that early intervention can have a positive effect on a child’s entire adult life—a theme that is repeated throughout this special publication dedicated to lower extremity pediatrics.

In some cases, the upside of early intervention is readily apparent. For example, new research demonstrates that children with clubfoot who are treated with the Ponseti method have significantly better functional outcomes as adults than those treated with surgery. Research also suggests that children with meniscal tears who are treated within three months of injury are more likely to have tears that can be repaired rather than removed, thus significantly reducing the risk of early onset knee osteoarthritis.

In other cases, the picture is less clear. Experts have yet to reach a consensus as to whether early intervention in children with flexible flatfoot might spare those children from more serious issues as adults—a debate that

becomes even more complicated when the issue of childhood obesity is added to the mix. Early intervention in a child with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease can positively affect that child’s gait pattern for years to come, but only if the treating clinician is aware that not all gait impairments in patients with CMT are the same.

Improving a child’s pain and function for now is a worthwhile goal. Improving a child’s pain and function for a lifetime is even better. That’s why we’ve created LER: Pediatrics, a quarterly publication dedicated to pediatric lower extremity care and filled with the type of evidence-based information you need for both short- and long-term clinical success in treating your littlest patients. Let us know what you think.

By Jordana Bieze Foster, Editor

News


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Features


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