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Background The Open Payments Program, as designated by the Physician Payments Sunshine Act is the single largest repository of industry payments made to licensed physicians within the United States. Though sizeable in its dataset, the database and user interface are limited in their ability to permit expansive data interpretation and summarization. Objectives We sought to comprehensively compare industry payments made to plastic surgeons with payments made to all surgeons and all physicians to elucidate industry relationships since implementation. Methods The Open Payments Database was queried between 2014 and 2019, and inclusion criteria were applied. These data were evaluated in aggregate and for yearly totals, payment type, and geographic distribution. Results 61,000,728 unique payments totaling $11,815,248,549 were identified over the six-year study period. 9,089 plastic surgeons, 121,151 surgeons, and 796,260 total physicians received these payments. Plastic surgeons annually received significantly less payment than all surgeons (p=0.0005). However, plastic surgeons did not receive significantly more payment than all physicians (p = 0.0840). Cash and cash equivalents proved to be the most common form of payment; Stock and stock options were least commonly transferred. Plastic surgeons in Tennessee received the most in payments between 2014-2019 (mean $ 76,420.75). California had the greatest number of plastic surgeons to receive payments (1,452 surgeons). Conclusions Plastic surgeons received more in industry payments than the average of all physicians but received less than all surgeons. The most common payment was cash transactions. Over the past six years, geographic trends in industry payments have remained stable.

Hypothesis Outcomes reporting for the surgical release of ulnar nerve cubital tunnel entrapment have variability in subjective, objective, and validated measures. The aim of this study is to review the literature to reassess the measures used to report surgical outcomes for ulnar neurolysis at the elbow. Methods This study was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines on systematic reviews. Six electronic databases were queried from the past 10 years using specific search terms and Boolean operators. Two independent reviewers assessed 4290 unique titles and abstracts that were screened for inclusion criteria. Sixty-eight full text articles were included for analysis. Results Statistical significance was noted in the number of outcome measures reported between studies from journals of impact factor within the first and third quartiles (P = 0.0086) and first and fourth quartiles (P = 0.0247), although no significance exists in the number of cubital tunnel–specific measures based on impact factor (P = 0.0783). Seventy-nine percent (n = 54) of the included studies report subjective measures; 54% (n = 37) included objective measures. Seventy percent (n = 48) of the studies report disease-specific outcome measures. Conclusion There exists a discordance within the literature regarding the most appropriate, descriptive, and translational measures for reporting surgical outcomes of cubital tunnel syndrome. We recommend journal editors implement a requirement that authors reporting outcomes of ulnar nerve decompression must use a standard, validated measure to make comparisons across the literature universal. Furthermore, a minimum of at least 1 subjective and 1 objective measure should be standard.

Myo/Nog cells, named for their expression of the skeletal muscle specific transcription factor Myo D, and the bone morphogenic protein inhibitor noggin, are critical regulators of normal development, progenitors of myofibroblasts in the ocular lens and neuroprotective in the retina. They also rapidly respond to wounding of the skin. The role of Myo/Nog cells in the modulation of tissue injury and fibrosis in the liver has not been studied. We examined the response of Myo/Nog cells to acetaminophen induced acute liver toxicity and their relationship to human hepatic stellate cells already known to play a role in acute and chronic liver injury responses. Liver tissue was obtained from mice following acetaminophen overdose over a time course of 0 to 96 hours. Additionally, LX‐2 human hepatic stellate cells were grown to confluence and subjected to a mechanical injury (scratch assay) and examined at several time points 0–24 hours after wounding. Immunofluorescent staining with the G8 monoclonal antibody was used to identify Myo/Nog cells in tissue sections of liver and stellate cell cultures. Preliminary analyses showed that in the mouse model of acetaminophen toxicity, there is a resident population of Myo/Nog cells in the liver that decline in number during the first 24 hours after the acetaminophen overdose and then increase, particularly in the region near the central vein (zone 3) where hepatocyte necrosis was greatest. The highest number of Myo/Nog cells was seen at 48 hours post acetaminophen administration, the time of maximal liver injury as previously documented by serum biomarkers. With the in vitro human stellate cell scratch assay, we found that a subset of these cells express the Myo/Nog marker G8, and the proportion of cells that express this marker increases after wounding, peaking at 24 hours after the scratch. G8 positive cells consistently clustered in proximity to the margins of the wound, with the greatest densities counted within the first high‐power field of the scratch. These studies suggest that Myo/Nog cells respond to acute liver injury by increasing in number and/or migrating toward the site of injury. Whether these cells play a role in mediating progression of liver injury or promote recovery via liver regeneration needs to be further evaluated in the model. The in vitro studies show that Myo/Nog cells may represent a subpopulation of human stellate cells in the liver, and this relationship should be further explored as a potential target for future therapeutics for acute and chronic liver injury. Support or Funding Information Anonymous donation from a private funder.

Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated a growing global disease burden of pathologies affecting the vertebral column. Allograft or implant-based reconstruction and fusion surgeries have been the mainstay of treatment. The efficacy of various surgical methods and the reliability of instrumentation or implants to execute these surgeries continue to be debated in the literature. Advances such as the free-tissue transfer have improved postoperative measures; however, they add high operative risk. The advent of spinoplastics introduces a practical surgical model to augment these spinal surgeries using vascularized bone grafts. As this technique becomes more widespread, it can be utilized to ease the growing disease burden that spinal injury places on both patients and the health care system. Ultimately, it will ameliorate strains on health care resources, reduce health care costs, and improve patient outcomes and quality of life.