July 13, 2023

“Even the best surgeons experience complications.” So says Michelle Butterworth, DPM, track leader for this afternoon’s Track 2: Surgical Complications Panel.

Dr. Butterworth has reimagined the traditional lecture as a much more interactive discussion among panelists and the audience. The panelists include Alan Block, DPM, MS; Michael S. Downey, DPM; Daniel J. Hatch, DPM; Andrew J. Meyr, DPM; Mitzi L. Williams, DPM; and Jacob Wynes, DPM, MS.

“I’ve chosen a panel that represents diverse locations and ages to present a variety of perspectives in discussing these cases,” said Dr. Butterworth.

Each panelist will present two cases: a common case and a more challenging one. In highlighting these cases, they have also been asked to use evidence-based medicine to explain if the choices they made in the moment were correct and backed by literature.

“It is important to go back and study your complications because you really learn from them. You need to break them down and figure out what happened: was it poor technique, patient non-compliance, comorbidities? You will generally find one or several factors that led to the surgery going wrong.

“Every surgeon deals with complications during their career. Once you know what went wrong during a particular case, you can avoid placing yourself in the same situation in the future. The value in complications is learning how to do better.”

Dr. Butterworth expects to see a high level of interaction during the session.

“This session will not be your traditional slide lecture. Our panelists will engage with the audience and each other to gauge who would do what in these situations,” she said.

Above all else, Dr. Butterworth hopes attendees appreciate what they can take away from these experts.

“It is great to learn from other people’s complications! You get the benefit of the knowledge without going through the stress yourself.”