Plastic and reconstructive surgery
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Beyond the controlled trauma of surgery, the operating room can be a hazardous place for patients and health care workers alike. Modern plastic surgery requires a thorough knowledge of various perioperative risks and methods to minimize these risks. As the importance of teamwork becomes more evident, clear communication skills preoperatively, intraoperatively, and postoperatively become equally critical. To facilitate an improvement in perioperative patient safety, this article will review aspects of communication, including crew resource management, root cause analysis, and surgical-site verification. In addition, the authors will discuss patient positioning, antiseptic hand and patient preparations, and barriers, such as surgical scrubs, gowns, gloves, and drapes. ⋯ There are ample opportunities for the reduction of preventable adverse events in plastic surgery. This article aims to provide its reader with the tools to research adverse events and a basic education in avoiding specific preoperative events. A second article addressing intraoperative and postoperative patient safety follows.
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Plast. Reconstr. Surg. · Nov 2012
ReviewPatient safety in the operating room: II. Intraoperative and postoperative.
The perioperative environment can be hazardous to patients and providers alike. Although many risks are best addressed preoperatively, some hazards require constant attention by the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and staff in the operating room. In a previous article, the authors discussed preoperative aspects of patient safety. In this article, the authors review intraoperative and postoperative risks and techniques to decrease these risks. ⋯ In this article covering intraoperative and postoperative hazards, the authors build upon a previous article addressing preoperative risks to patients during inpatient plastic surgery. Although neither article covers an exhaustive list of potential risks, the goal is to provide the modern plastic surgeon with the means to prevent common adverse events, as well as the tools to research new hazards.
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Plast. Reconstr. Surg. · Nov 2012
ReviewAcellular dermal matrices in abdominal wall reconstruction: a systematic review of the current evidence.
Reconstruction of the anterior abdominal wall is a complex procedure that can be complicated by contamination, loss of domain, previous scarring or radiotherapy, and reduced availability of local tissues. With the introduction of acellular dermal matrices to clinical use, it was hoped that many of the problems associated with previous synthetic materials could be overcome. With their enhanced biocompatibility, acellular dermal matrices are believed to integrate with surrounding tissues while demonstrating resistance to infection, extrusion, erosion, and adhesion formation. ⋯ High-quality data derived from level I, II, and III studies are necessary to determine the indications for acellular dermal matrix use and the optimal surgical techniques to maximize outcomes in abdominal wall reconstruction.
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Plast. Reconstr. Surg. · Nov 2012
Quality of life long-term after body contouring surgery following bariatric surgery: sustained improvement after 7 years.
Bariatric surgery for morbid obesity results in massive weight loss and improvement of health and quality of life. A downside of the major weight loss is the excess of overstretched skin, which may influence the patient's quality of life by causing functional and aesthetic problems. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the patient's quality of life long-term after body contouring following bariatric surgery. ⋯ Therapeutic, IV.