CME expires October 1, 2029
Go beyond traditional learning with a 360° perspective on orthopedic topics.
Each ICL360 is a cutting-edge CME course designed to provide a holistic learning experience, featuring curated video content sourced from expert-selected Instructional Course Lectures enhanced with insightful commentary and comprehensive assessment questions. This all-encompassing course goes beyond traditional learning by offering a complete 360° perspective on orthopedic topics. Explore additional resources, including full-text readings from the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (JAAOS), technique videos from Orthopaedic Video Theater (OVT), and links to external literature and PubMed. Elevate your clinical decision-making skills and gain a well-rounded understanding of essential orthopedic concepts with ICL360.
This Instructional Course Lecture course provides a detailed review of neurovascular compromise in upper extremity surgery, emphasizing prevention, recognition, intraoperative decision making, and postoperative escalation. The course is organized around anatomic regions that commonly are encountered in orthopaedic trauma and reconstructive practice, including the forearm and wrist, the elbow and humerus, and the shoulder girdle, as well as the acute management of nerve or vessel injury if a complication occurs.
Editor
Timothy P. Folwer, MD, FAAOS
Learning Objectives
- Identify approach-specific neurovascular danger zones in shoulder, humerus, elbow, forearm, wrist, and hand surgery.
- Apply exposure strategies that use known anatomic intervals, adequate visualization, and dissection from normal to abnormal tissue to reduce the risk of iatrogenic neurovascular injury.
- Evaluate patients with high-risk injury patterns, including fracture-dislocations, ballistic injuries, pediatric forearm fractures, and high-energy forearm trauma, and patients undergoing revision elbow surgery for occult or evolving neurovascular compromise.
- Incorporate preoperative imaging studies, neurovascular examination findings, and surgical planning to anticipate displaced or distorted neurovascular anatomy.
- Use intraoperative techniques for safe nerve handling, retractor placement, vascular control, perfusion assessment, and documentation if neurovascular structures are encountered or injured.
- Determine when to obtain urgent assistance from peripheral nerve, microvascular, vascular, or plastic surgery colleagues during complex upper extremity procedures.
- Develop an evidence-informed postoperative plan for vascular surveillance, nerve injury workup, electrodiagnostic testing, imaging, and early referral for patients in whom neurovascular compromise is suspected.
Earn up to 5 AMA PRA Category 1 CME credits™.