Abstract
Within the framework of established medical disciplines, “sub”-specializations have made their entrance during the past decades. The subspecialists, as they see more patients of the same kind, have a more focused skill set and deeper knowledge which has led to better patient care. On the other hand, they may lose general knowledge of their specialty and no longer be able to practice full scope. To preserve the advantages of subspecialization and still be able to maintain an overall, “holistic” view on the patient, “cooperation” is essential.
You have full access to this open access chapter, Download chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Already in 1920, in a report to the UK Minister of Health, the concept of team-based care was conceived [1]. Now, PubMed shows no less than 61,496 hits when one searches for “multidisciplinary.” This short chapter is certainly not a plea to approach each and every medical problem by a team of specialists, but in cross-disciplinary caseload, today interdisciplinary care is mandatory. As we will see, when, for example, treating patients with Graves’ disease, a multidisciplinary approach is highly recommended [2, 3].
Pathology in and around the orbit is typically an area where many medical disciplines intersect: ophthalmology, oral and maxillofacial surgery, ENT, plastic surgery, and endocrinology. Despite the expertise of every single specialist, tunnel vision is a threat and can lead to misdiagnosis.
With the introduction of medical specialists from different fields working closely together, this tendency for tunnel vision is coming to an end. In 1994, Stoll et al. [4] argued that “orbital complications of various pathogenesis” are best treated by interdisciplinary teamwork. The advantage of working with a multidisciplinary team will equate to a superior outcome for the patient: The end result of that input is much more than the sum of its parts. Also, the multidisciplinary consultation hour can serve as a real goldmine for the participating doctors during which much can be achieved. In order for this system to work effectively, each doctor needs to maintain their knowledge and associated skills by treating a minimum number of patients annually.
In the Netherlands, every doctor is allowed to perform any medical treatment, provided he/she does it according to the rules of the current “medical art”
In the Amphia Hospital in Breda, Netherlands, we have set up a collaboration between oral and maxillofacial surgeons, endocrinologists, and ophthalmologists. Over the past 15 years, this has proved to be very beneficial in treating ocular-related pathology. Our main focus has been Graves’ orbitopathy and orbital fractures, but related problems often revealed themselves during collaboration.
For those doctors who pursue the same goal as we have or those who are interested in both orbital surgery and ophthalmic orbital pathology, we hope our book “CrossRoads” is a valuable resource. It is not our aim to give a full description of all diseases, disorders, and treatments that exist in these fields; however, we have tried to provide an overview of some of the problems we have encountered and, hence, raise the interest for further reading.
References
Watkins J, Straughton K, King N. There is no ‘I’ in team but there may be a PA. Future Healthc J. 2019;6:177–80.
Bogusiak K, Puch A, Arkuszewski P. Goldenhar syndrome: current perspectives. World J Pediatr. 2017;13:405–15.
Wiersinga WM. Management of Graves’ ophthalmopathy. Nat Clin Pract Endocrinol Metab. 2007;3:396–404.
Stoll W, Busse H, Wessels N. Detailed results of orbital and optic nerve decompression. NHO. 1994;42:685–90.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.
The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the chapter's Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Mourits, M.P., Gooris, P.J.J., Bergsma, J.E. (2023). The Orbit: Introduction to “CrossRoads”. Multidisciplinary Versus Solo Approach in Complex Cases. In: Gooris, P.J., Mourits, M.P., Bergsma, J. (eds) Surgery in and around the Orbit. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40697-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-40697-3_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-40696-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-40697-3
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)