Early Recognition and Management of Dupuytren's Contracture: An Osteopathic Internist's Perspective

The goal of this educational activity is to provide osteopathic clinicians with evidence-based strategies to improve recognition, diagnosis, and management of Dupuytren’s contracture in clinical practice. This activity focuses on improving clinicians’ competence in identifying early clinical presentations, understanding disease progression, and implementing appropriate management strategies to improve patient outcomes.

Upon completion of this activity, learners should be able to:

Define Dupuytren's contracture and its clinical relevance for internists.
Recognize clinical features and risk factors while diagnosing DC from other hand conditions.
Discuss currently available and emerging treatment options.

This enduring activity consists of one recorded lecture that will be available from March 1, 2026, through March 1, 2027.

Disclosure Statements

The American College of Osteopathic Internists (ACOI) is committed to providing learners with high-quality CME activities that promote improvements in health care and not those of an ineligible company. In accordance with the ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, ACOI requires that individuals in a position to control the content of an educational activity disclose all relevant financial relationships with any ineligible company (those whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients).

Individuals in a position to control the content may include, but are not limited to, planning committee members, authors, faculty, speakers, reviewers, and activity staff. ACOI reviews all disclosed relationships to determine which are relevant and works with contributors to mitigate those relationships prior to the activity.

Philip E. Blazer, faculty for this activity, hs no relevant relationships with ineligible companies to disclose.

CME Credit and Designation Statements

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of ExcelCME and the American College of Osteopathic Internists (ACOI).

Excel CME is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. ExcelCME 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.

This activity is also eligible for 1 AOA Category 1-A CME credits, and ACOI will report continuing medical education credits commensurate with the physician’s participation in this program. The ACOI will also be sending you a certificate for AOA credit upon submittal of the evaluation form.

Support Acknowledgement

This activity is supported by an independent educational grant from Endo Pharmaceuticals.

Disclaimer

ACOI and ExcelCME present this information for educational purposes only. The content is provided solely by individuals who have been selected because of recognized expertise in their field. Participants have the professional responsibility to ensure that products are prescribed and used appropriately on the basis of their own clinical judgment and accepted standards of care. ACOI, ExcelCME, and the supporter assume no liability for the information herein.

Philip E. Blazer, MD

Philip E. Blazar, MD is Chief of the Hand and Upper Extremity Service at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School. He is also the John B. and Buckminster Brown Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School and the Program Director of the Harvard Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery Fellowship.

He graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Medical School and completed his orthopedic residency and hand surgery fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is board certified in orthopaedic surgery with a hand sub-specialty. His clinical practice includes hand and upper extremity trauma, post-traumatic reconstruction, and elective conditions, and he is noted for his expertise in Dupuytren’s Contracture and Rheumatoid Arthritis. Dr. Blazar's research interests include Dupuytren's Contracture, distal radius fractures and their surgical treatment, the surgical treatment of arthritis of the hand and wrist, and upper extremity nerve injury, compression, and surgery.