Patient Safety in Plastic Surgery

Patient safety is an overriding concern in all surgery and particularly in plastic surgery, where many of the procedures are elective, but information about patient safety has traditionally been scattered throughout the literature. Patient Safety in Plastic Surgery covers all of the essential patient safety topics in one valuable resource.

Timely and practical, the book places special emphasis on clinical issues. It begins with the safety concerns most often identified by plastic surgeons, such as DVTs, surgical site infections, sleep apnea, and anesthesia safety. Beyond these obvious problems are major safety issues that often fall off the radar. These are critical to patient comfort and safety, but they do not always receive the attention they merit, such as hypothermia, nausea and vomiting, proper patient positioning, and screening and management of medical co-morbidities. Other important chapters focus on the identification and avoidance of patients who are poor psychological candidates for surgery and the legal aspects of safety.

The book is edited by V. Leroy Young, a well-known plastic surgeon, and Richard Botney, a noted anesthesiologist. They offer readers the advantage of their combined experience along with that of a multidisciplinary group of experts on the different topics covered.