The history of the healing arts forces us to be very modest. There are no absolute truths and no eternally valid laws. A new era will appear with new teachings and new ideas. We need to be certain that we are receptive to change and approach the new times with understanding. Ferdinand Sauerbruch (Das war mein Leben. Kindler, Munich, 1951) Many of our colleagues, especially the younger ones, have encouraged us to share our operative experiences with them. It is their please that have given us the resolve to write this book. We hope that we have met their needs with a volume which illustrates the broad spectrum of surgical techniques used in dermatology and related fields. In it we attempt to provide practical help to both practicing dermatologists and those in training, as they consider surgical therapeutic options and then seek to implement them. Every operation requires courage, a sense of responsibility, patience, and imagination. The true quality of the surgeon is seen not in the extent and difficulty of his or her operations, but in the personal qualities that the physician brings to patient care.
