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Practising surgery in a war zone: an interview with Dr Volodymyr Melnyk

It is now nine months since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine commenced in late February 2022, with Putin announcing a “special military operation” to “denazify and demilitarise” Ukraine. The rest of the world, however, saw it for what it...

Perfecting the pout

From Hollywood lips to Essex lips, non-surgical lip augmentation has gained popularity in recent years with aesthetic patients. A 2019 article in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology concluded that the non-surgical correction of the projection of the forehead profile and...

Laser and light-based treatments for pigmented lesions

The authors detail the types of lasers and light-based devices that can be used in the treatment of epidermal and dermal pigmentations. Skin colour differences have, for centuries, been associated with the economic, political and social status of a person;...

Factors influencing a career choice in plastic surgery as a UK medical student

The medical school curriculum is increasingly focusing on the role of a general practitioner, which has resulted in medical students having reduced exposure to surgical specialties. There has been a longstanding concern that plastic surgery teaching and exposure in the...

Stratifying preoperative risk in revision augmentation: the six Cs

Breast augmentation is the most frequently performed cosmetic surgical procedure in the UK [1], and with an increasing number of providers, plastic surgeons are managing revisions without information pertaining to the original procedure. Anticipating the features of successive generations of...

Non-surgical management of actinic keratosis, Bowen’s disease and non-melanoma skin cancer

Non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) are primary cutaneous neoplasms comprising mainly of basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs). In 2011, 102,628 cases of NMSCs (74% BCC and 23% SCC) were recorded in England, making NMSC the most common...

From PIP to DC-CIK to the Sorcerer’s Apprentice: a medico-political minefield

Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) was a French company that manufactured silicone breast implants that were surgically implanted mainly for cosmetic breast augmentation. Of note, ‘cosmetic’ is used in the strict sense of the word meaning false and artificial and does...

Topical phenytoin effect on pressure ulcers healing: A literature review of the evidence

A pressure ulcer (PU) is a localised injury to the skin and / or underlying tissue usually over a bony prominence, because of pressure, or pressure in combination with shear (EPUAP/ NPUAP 2009/PPPPIA 2014). Bennett et al. [1] claimed total...

An epidemic of lower limb gunshot injuries

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact upon us all, the author, a reconstructive plastic surgeon, provides a thought-provoking account of a different type of epidemic that is having devastating consequences. The Oxford English Dictionary defines an epidemic as “a...

We need to talk about amputation – a difficult conversation in the developing world

What do you do when a patient refuses amputation? The author shares various cases and outlines her team’s approach to this scenario in Gaza. What to do when a patient refuses amputation for a severely damaged lower limb that will...

Tranexamic acid and platelet rich plasma in the treatment of melasma: efficacy and safety

Melasma is a common, acquired, progressive, often symmetrical macular hypermelanosis that is usually localised on the face and more frequently on the forehead, upper lip, central and malar area of the face. It is triggered by a variety of factors,...