Description 
At AOFAS Annual Meeting 2023 in Louisville, Kentucky, host Nicholas Strasser, MD, discusses with Jitendra Mangwani, MBBS, MS(Orth), FRCS(Tr&Orth), the IFFAS Award Finalist paper “UK Foot and Ankle Thrombo-Embolism Audit (UK-FATE) – A multicentre prospective study of Venous Thromboembolism in Foot and Ankle Surgery.”

Summary 
There is wide variation in the threshold and provision of thromboprophylaxis in the treatment of foot and ankle conditions. One of the difficulties in affecting change in practice in this area is the low incidence of postoperative, symptomatic VTE. Therefore, a large number of patients need to be included in any series for meaningful conclusions to be drawn.

Primary objective

To observe the UK-wide variation in post-operative thromboprophylaxis, and to analyse the 90-day incidence of symptomatic venous thrombo-embolism related to:

• Elective foot and ankle surgery
• Trauma foot and ankle surgery
• Treatment of Achilles tendon ruptures (operative and non-operative).  [Source]

Commercial Support
2024 CME Podcasts are provided free to AOFAS members and orthopaedic residents/fellows with funding from the Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Foundation.

• Identify and analyze the UK-wide variation in post-operative thromboprophylaxis across different foot and ankle surgical procedures. 
• Evaluate the 90-day incidence of symptomatic venous thromboembolism (VTE) in relation to elective foot and ankle surgery, trauma foot and ankle surgery, and treatment of Achilles tendon ruptures (both operative and non-operative).
• Understand the significance of including a large patient cohort to draw meaningful conclusions regarding the incidence of postoperative symptomatic VTE and its implications for practice change in foot and ankle surgery. 

Accreditation
The American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education (CME) for physicians.

Credit Designation Statement
The AOFAS designates this live activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the learner to earn credit toward the CME requirements of the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery’s Maintenance of Certification program. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit learner completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABOS credit.

CME Certificates
Participants are required to listen to the podcast, answer the evaluation and claim CME at the end of the webinar.

A need for this educational activity has been determined based on previous course evaluations and the AOFAS educational curriculum. The content of this course was based on current issues and topics provided by AOFAS membership and leadership. For more information on the AOFAS CME mission, visit aofas.org/education.

AOFAS requires all instructors, planners, and other individuals in a position to control or influence the content of an educational activity to disclose all relevant financial relationships or affiliations during the past 12 months with any commercial interest (any entity producing, marketing, re-selling, or distributing healthcare goods and services consumed by, or used on patients). All identified conflicts of interest must be resolved and the education content vetted by AOFAS for fair balance, scientific objectivity, and appropriateness. AOFAS also requires faculty to disclose when off-label/unapproved uses of a product are discussed in a CME activity. AOFAS attests that the persons responsible for the development of this educational activity did so independently and were not influenced by commercial supporters. All financial disclosures will be provided to meeting attendees in the final program materials.

The material presented in this continuing medical education activity has been made available by the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) for educational purposes only. This material is not intended to represent the only, nor necessarily the best, methods or procedures appropriate for the medical situation discussed, but rather is intended to present an approach, view, statement, or opinion of the authors or presenters, which may be helpful or of interest to other practitioners. Methods, techniques, and procedures demonstrated and views and opinions expressed by speakers, presenters, and faculty are their own, and do not necessarily represent those of AOFAS, nor does presentation on the program represent or constitute endorsement or promotion by AOFAS. AOFAS expressly disclaims any warranties or guarantees, expressed or implied, and shall not be liable for damages of any kind in connection with the material, methods, information, techniques, opinions, or procedures expressed, presented, or demonstrated.

FDA Statement
Some drugs or medical devices demonstrated at this meeting have not been cleared by the FDA or have been cleared by the FDA for specific purposes only. The FDA has stated that it is the responsibility of the physician to determine the FDA clearance status of each drug or medical devices he or she wishes to use in clinical practice. AOFAS policy provides that “off label” uses of a drug or medical device may be described in its CME activities so long as the “off label” use of the drug or medical device is also specifically disclosed (i.e., it must be disclosed that the FDA has not cleared the drug or device for the described purpose). Any drug or medical device is being used “off label” if the described use is not set forth on the products approval label.

Faculty/Planner Disclosure Declaration
As an Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) provider, AOFAS has the obligation to ensure the delivery of education that is balanced and free of commercial bias. To achieve this, it is the policy of the AOFAS that all CME-related board members, committee members (“planners”), faculty, and appropriate staff disclose in writing to the learners’ all financial relationships that you have had in the past 24 months with ineligible companies. An “ineligible company” are those whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.

In addition to faculty members, commentators from the floor are charged with verbally disclosing any interests immediately prior to speaking. All disclosures are provided in this final program distributed at the meeting to all program participants.

In accordance with AOFAS policy:
Faculty participation in this educational activity will be predicated upon timely submission and review of AOFAS disclosure. An individual who refuses to disclose all financial relationships will be disqualified from being a planning committee member, a teacher, or an author of CME, and cannot have control of, or responsibility for, the development, management, presentation, or evaluation of the CME activity. Non-compliance will result in a faculty member being stricken from the program.

An indication of the participant’s disclosure appears after his or her name as well as the ineligible company that provided the support. AOFAS does not view the existence of these disclosed interests or commitments as necessarily implying bias or decreasing the value of the author’s participation in this activity. In addition to ensuring that presentations be free of bias, faculty members are required to ensure that all material presented and discussed will be based on best- available evidence.

Podcast Faculty Disclosures

Nicholas L. Strasser MD
Wright/Stryker medical: Grant/Research Support 

Jitendra Mangwani, MBBS, MS(Orth), FRCS(Tr&Orth)
British Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society: Honorary Secretary
Orthosolutions: Consultant
Meshworks: Consultant 

OnDemand Education Committee Disclosures (Planners)

J. Benjamin Jackson MD, MBA 
Nothing to Disclose

Anish R. Kadakia MD 
Acumed: Royalties 
Arthrex Inc.: Paid Consultant, Royalties, Speakers' Bureau 
elsevier: Royalties - Publisher 
Johnson & Johnson: Royalties 

Pamela Luk MD
AOFAS: Board member/Committee Member 

Joseph Park MD
American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society: Board member/Committee Member 
DePuy  A Johnson & Johnson Company: Grant/Research Support, Paid Consultant, Speakers' Bureau 
Integra LifeSciences: Grant/Research Support, Royalties - Publisher 
LifeNet Health: Paid Consultant 
Saunders/Mosby-Elsevier: Royalties - Publisher 

W. Bret Smith, DO
Nothing to Disclose

Nicholas L. Strasser MD
Wright/Stryker medical: Grant/Research Support 

All of the relevant financial relationships listed for these individuals have been mitigated.