A passing glance? Differences in eye tracking and gaze patterns between trainees and experts reading plain film bunion radiographs.

Eye tracking and gaze pattern studies have been used to evaluate human behavior for decades. This is because of its ability to reveal conscious and subconscious behaviors when subjects are tasked with observation, decision making, and surgical performance. Many have popularized the use of this technology for radiographic assessment while evaluating radiologist behaviors, but little has been described for surgeon behavior patterns when evaluating preoperative deformities by radiograph. Because the radiographic assessment strongly influences surgical selection, the present study was designed to evaluate the differences between groups of novice and experienced surgeons' gaze patterns when tasked to describe hallux valgus deformities. The subjects were asked to rate the deformity as "none," "mild," "moderate," or "severe." Using an externally mounted eye tracking system, our study assessed saccades, fixations, overall time spent per radiograph, and the subjects' chosen bunion rating. Both the novice and advanced groups of foot and ankle surgeons were tasked to evaluate 25 total anteroposterior radiographs from patients who presented with a primary complaint of bunion pain. These patients were chosen at random, such that all participating surgeons had no previous patient familiarization. Statistically significant differences were observed with regard to the activity and rating of the moderate bunion films. The experience of surgeons does appear to modify gaze behavior with respect to time and attention, such that less overall time spent per image is needed by the advanced group, with improved efficiency. Future academic curriculum and training techniques could be developed to reflect these potential technical differences in search behavior, diagnostic technique, and surgical selection strategy.

Staged reconstruction of a multiplane post-traumatic deformity: a case report.

Damaging effects of joint function can occur after fractures of the lower extremity that have healed with an angular malunion. Surgical techniques have been described to restore the normal mechanics and establish a plantigrade foot, including osteotomy and fusion. In the present report, we describe a unique case of a 17-year-old male who had initially experienced a severe injury to his left lower extremity and foot when he had been run over by a jeep. Originally, a Lisfranc injury with navicular and cuboid fractures were surgically corrected. He had also sustained an extra-articular distal tibial and fibular fracture, which had been conservatively managed. Seven months after the initial incident, he underwent 3-staged reconstructive surgery because of a malaligned valgus ankle with fibular malunion and a painful collapsing pes planovalgus deformity. A supramalleolar tibial osteotomy with fibular lengthening was first performed, followed by triple arthrodesis with removal of hardware and then syndesmosis repair. The present report discusses our clinical evaluation and surgical technique for this multiplanar post-traumatic deformity.