Media Type: Textbook

Synopsis: The scope of oculoplastic cosmetic procedures continues to expand in both range and depth of understanding. Pearls and Pitfalls in Cosmetic Oculoplastic Surgery ambitiously reviews many of the most frequently performed oculoplastic, cosmetic procedures through a well-organized compilation of over a hundred and seventy contributions from nearly a hundred authors, detailing favored approaches and “tricks of the trade.” Novices and senior surgeons alike will benefit from the long string of pearls amassed to prevent the most common pitfalls. Although the material is densely presented, chapter brevity makes this an easy pick-up read.

Target Audience: Oculoplastic, Facial Plastic, and Plastic Surgeons

Review: Drs. Hartstein, Holds, and Massry are professionally and academically well-established oculoplastic surgeons with decades of combined experience. The editors have undertaken the herculean task of amassing oculofacial plastic surgical tricks of the trade from nearly a hundred authors.

The text spans nearly 550 pages with 172 distinct contributions, but it is separated into 12 Parts, further divided into 26 sensibly organized and easy to follow Sections. The thoughtful segmentation of this text makes it easy to digest in brief time allotments and to refer back to particular topics or the comments of a specific author.

Appropriately, the emphasis rests heavily upon eyelid surgery, with preoperative evaluation, anesthetic administration, upper and lower eyelid blepharoplasty, blepharoptosis repair, and correction of entropion and ectropion predominately featured. Yet, nearly half the text is further devoted to forehead rejuvenation, mid-face suspension, botulinum injections, dermal and subdermal fillers, skin rejuvenation, and other cosmetic procedures.

The book is intended to meet the needs of readers across a wide range of surgical experience, and it fits this bill well. It will appeal to the oculoplastic novice who seeks clear, step-by-step instruction for many frequently performed procedures. The surgeon of moderate experience will find the often diametrically opposed views of knowledgeable and accomplished physicians intriguing; whereas the seasoned surgeon will delight over the plethora of generously sprinkled pearls.

The editors have tried hard not to constrain their invited authors, and the result is that Pearls and Pitfalls in Cosmetic Oculoplastic Surgery looks and reads more like an anthology than a single-author omnibus or a novel with a wide range of style, descriptive detail, and readers’ surgical levels in mind. Similarly, the figure quality, although always demonstrative, is quite varied. Typical of such instructional collections, there is some redundancy, and although pearls and perils abound, they are not specifically highlighted in the book’s format, and so the text might be more appropriately titled, “Variations in Oculoplastic Surgery: How We Do It.”

In short, Pearls and Pitfalls in Cosmetic Oculoplastic Surgery is a text rich in surgical advice and detailed description that will broaden the horizons of any disciple of oculoplastic surgery and promises to fulfill its goal of helping surgeons perform more thoughtful, efficient and successful procedures.