Resident Andreas Kaikis, DPM, poses proudly with the team’s award-winning poster.
Congratulations to the Podiatric Surgery & Medicine team for their recent achievement at the 76th Annual American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeon (ACFAS) Scientific Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
Thousands of poster submissions were submitted nationwide for judgment at the conference, and PPMC’s own Andreas Kaikis, DPM, a third-year resident, William Wolfe, DPM, a fourth-year resident, and D. Scot Malay, DPM, MSCE, FACFAS, director of the Podiatric Research Fellowship and co-director of Podiatric Medical and Surgical Residencies, were accepted and ultimately won second place.
The poster was titled “A Novel Radiographic Predictor for Dehiscence after Total Ankle Arthroplasty” and aimed to determine whether certain preoperative measurements can provide insight into a patient’s risk of dehiscence – a wound rupturing along a surgical incision – following a total ankle arthroplasty (TAA). After examining 56 TAA cases (21.43 percent of which resulted in dehiscence) and specifically looking at the anterior soft tissue depth at the joint line, the team found that a measurement of approximately 19.5 mm may foretell dehiscence. The poster notes that taking these pre-op measurements can be useful, and further investigations will help to refine the predictive value.
“ACFAS holds meetings throughout the year, but the Scientific Conference is their big event. To get this level of recognition is huge for our residents, and it’s a huge shout-out for Penn in general!” said Jill Mellbye, residency program coordinator for Podiatric Medical Education at PPMC.