Republication of “Letter Regarding ‘A Novel Casting Technique for Tongue-Type Calcaneus Fractures With Soft Tissue Compromise’”

Commentary: A letter to the editor which disputes the claim that the described technique is novel as the authors of the letter had previously described this technique in another journal. This example highlights why authors must thoroughly research the background to their work and should avoid claiming to be the first, the largest, etc.

Dear Editor:

We read with interest the December 2017 article by Dr Heintzman et al, “A Novel Casting Technique for Tongue-Type Calcaneus Fractures With Soft Tissue Compromise.” ¹ We would like to congratulate the authors on the adoption of the technique of offloading the posterior heel to both splints and casts. Greater awareness of this technique will benefit other patients with tongue-type fractures with compromised soft tissue.

We published a comparable article, “A Novel Posterior Splinting Technique to Avoid Heel Ulcers” in 2013 in Orthopedics, which describes the same technique with the goal of reaching a wide audience. ²

The recent movement toward more open access orthopedic journals such as Foot & Ankle Orthopaedics will hopefully serve as an additional venue for dissemination of useful techniques to benefit all patients. We hope, however, that the same standards for appropriate citation and peer review continue with the increase in publications.

Raymond Hsu, MDDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery Brown Alpert Medical School Division of Foot and Ankle Surgery Providence, RI, USA [e-mail] Craig Lareau, MDNew England Orthopedic Surgeons Springfield, MA, USA Christopher Born, MDDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery Brown Alpert Medical School Division of Orthopaedic Trauma Providence, RI, USA