Plastic Surgery, 3rd Edition

As a service to our readers, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery® reviews books, DVDs, practice management software, and electronic media items of educational interest to reconstructive and aesthetic surgeons. All items are copyrighted and available commercially. The Journal actively solicits information in digital format (e.g., CD-ROM and Internet offerings) for review. Reviewers are selected on the basis of relevant interest. Reviews are solely the opinion of the reviewer; they are usually published as submitted, with only copy editing. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery® does not endorse or recommend any review so published. Send books, DVDs, and any other material for consideration to: Ronald P. Gruber, M.D., Review Editor, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, UT Southwestern Medical Center, 5959 Harry Hines Boulevard, POB1, Suite 300, Dallas, Texas 75390-8820. Ronald P. Gruber, M.D. Review EditorFigureFor practicing plastic surgeons, this series requires no introduction. The prior editions (generally eponymously referenced) read as authoritative de scriptions of our field at the time of publication: McCarthy (1990) and Mathes (2006). This third volume of plastic surgery’s most definitive reference receives another outstanding treatment from the editors and contributing authors. Eduardo Rodriguez edits Part I of this volume. The first section is dedicated to craniofacial trauma and the second to head and neck reconstruction. Each chapter receives a lucid description from a recognized expert in the field. Notable additions that expand on recent advances in plastic surgery include chapters on secondary facial reconstruction, facial transplantation, management of temporomandibular joint dysfunction and obstructive sleep apnea, and the surgical management of migraine headaches. Joseph Losee edits Part II of the volume, devoted to pediatric plastic surgery. This part is divided into three sections dedicated to cleft, craniofacial, and general pediatric plastic surgery. Highlights from the cleft section include chapters addressing orthodontic management in cleft lip and palate, the treatment of alveolar clefts, and secondary cleft deformities. Unlike the previous edition, this head and neck volume includes no chapters devoted to aesthetic topics. The most significant improvements in the current edition are related to its overall readability and the quality of supporting electronic content. Although prior editions in this series have been authoritative, trainees sometimes find the text too dense to use when preparing for surgical cases or presentations on the wards. The current edition is both comprehensive and appropriate for use as a primary reference for residents and fellows. All photographs and diagrams are presented in full color. Surgical concepts are reinforced with a vast number of well-illustrated examples. A select number of annotated references are included in the written text—the comprehensive list of references to each chapter appears only in the online edition. These online references are also hyperlinked to the PubMed database. This reviewer’s edition of the printed text came with access to the online version by means of the www.expertconsult.com Web site. The digital content available on the Web site is vast. Included are many excellent videos that will add immensely to the educational content of the print version. Furthermore, a series of “bonus images” for each chapter are available online and referenced in a section within the print version. Curiously, although the references to each chapter within this volume have been truncated, the nearly 200-page index that references all six volumes of this edition remains. Overall, this is a well-conceived addition to plastic surgery’s most authoritative text. James M. Smartt, Jr., M.D.