Burns debridement: VersajetTM vs. conventional debridement

A prospective randomised controlled trial was undertaken to compare conventional tangential burn wound debridement against the use of Versajet™ hydrosurgery in the treatment of partial thickness paediatric burns. Seventy-five children under the age of 16 were recruited for the study...

ERAS in microvascular breast reconstruction

Enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) is an important concept in today’s accountancy dominated hospitals, effectively decreasing the length of stay (LOS) of postoperative patients. This is something that surgeons will have to consider – or have protocols foisted upon them...

Post-cancer prosthodontic reconstruction

A functional outcome after head and neck cancer resection is aimed at restoring speech and swallow. Dental reconstruction greatly facilitates this, particularly by enabling the patient to chew food. The authors reinforce the need for careful presurgical planning with treatment...

Plunging new depths for the treatment of ranulas

This series of 15 patients describes treatment for ranulas with a suture technique performed as an outpatient under local anaesthesia, in a two-stage process. The authors state that they have modified a historical Chinese technique. During the first visit, the...

Hey look! Smaller arms and no scars...

The author of this chapter presents his experience of arm reduction leaving a scar in the axilla only; minimal incision brachioplasty (MIB). The technique is a modification of the Pollack technique to treat axillary hydradenitis. It is suitable for patients...

Body contouring surgery: Use common sense!

This informative article, which kicks off this excellent edition of Clinics in Plastic Surgery, provides a sensible and balanced review of when, why and what to do with the massive weight loss patient group. The recommended wisdom will be familiar...

Orthognathic surgery for OSAS

Orthognathic surgery is developing as a viable and long-lasting treatment option for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS). There have been a growing number of publications that report the benefit of using conventional orthognathic techniques for OSAS. In the present retrospective...

Harvesting the flexor hallucis longus what is the increased morbidity

The free fibula flap and its variations are now widely used in various clinical applications for microvascular reconstructions. Occasionally and to add bulk the flexor hallucis longus (FHL) muscle is harvested along with the fibula. Additionally, the postoperative morbidity is...

Lipofilling for scar improvement

Since Coleman et al. in 1991 reported on lipofilling, numerous applications have been reported; these include but are not limited to contour restoration, lip augmentation and wrinkle therapy. There have also been some one-off reports of improvements in scars following...

Additional venous anastomoses to safeguard DIEP flaps

That DIEP flaps can be troublesome is not news and many descriptions exist trying to circumvent these problems. The most common problem is venous congestion in the flap and this paper presents an ingenious method of anticipating and forestalling such...

The many uses of human amnion

Human amnion has been the focus of myth and superstition. To be born with the ‘caul’ intact was considered lucky and this was transferable, including legitimate selling e.g. caul amulets. In 1910 foetal membranes were first used for transplantation and...

­Immediate planned reconstruction following complex craniofacial reconstruction

The immediate reconstruction of 3-D craniofacial defects is extremely difficult and can be more difficult than the ablation. Perfect shape and symmetry is required. In the past decade this has largely improved with CAD/CAM engineering. The authors report a one-step...