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Plastic Surgery: Thoughts Before Going Under The Knife

More than 10 million Americans undergo elective cosmetic procedures each year. Dr. Jon LaPook reports on what every patient should know about anesthesia with Dr. Panchali Dhar, author of “Before the Scalpel.”


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Plastic Surgery: Risks Of Going Under The Knife

Last year — despite the recession — there were about 10 million cosmetic procedures in the United States. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, over 90 percent were in women and about 1.5 million were surgical. 
 
The top five surgical procedures were breast augmentation (311,957), liposuction (283,735), eyelid surgery (149,943), rhinoplasty (138,258), and abdominoplasty (127.923). As you awaken on the morning of your elective surgery, there’s no way you haven’t yet met the surgeon who will be performing the procedure. But odds are you still haven’t met the person who will be most responsible for keeping you alive: the anesthesiologist. Read more »

A Look At The History Of Microsurgery

Facial transplants, hand replants, and free flaps are only possible in large part due to microsurgery. 

I finally got around to reading the “History of Microsurgery.” The article is good reading for anyone interested in the history of microsurgery.

The article, written by Susumu Tamai, M.D., Ph.D., (Japan) was received for publication in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery on June 14, 2007.

Microsurgery is relatively young, and Dr. Tamai breaks down the history into four periods. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*

Deflated And Elated: A Breast Implant Tale

Crying, she says: “Dr. Bates, my right implant has deflated. Help!”

Don’t panic. It’ll be okay.”

We review the options and risks. Fortunately, her 9-year-old implants are covered by the 10-year plan.

“Dr. Bates, can I go bigger this time?”

Yes, that’s an option.”

Smiling, “Then let’s do it.”

*This blog post was originally published at Suture for a Living*

Latest Interviews

IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

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How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

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Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

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The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

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Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

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