Microsurgical breast reconstruction in thin patients: the impact of low body mass indices.

Background: The purpose of this investigation was to examine patients with low body mass index (BMI) regarding the feasibility to perform autologous breast reconstruction in such patients, as well as to determine optimal donor sites and evaluate outcomes accordingly.

Patients And Methods: All patients undergoing microsurgical breast reconstruction were divided into three cohorts based on BMI. Group 1 included patients with BMI greater than or equal to 22 kg/m(2) and was defined "low-normal BMI.

Inferior turbinoplasty during cosmetic rhinoplasty: techniques and trends.

Background: The sheer number of accepted inferior turbinoplasty techniques emphasizes the fact that there is no general agreement on which approach yields optimal results, nor are there data available that describes prevalent techniques in turbinate surgery among plastic surgeons.

Objective: The aim of this study was to identify practice patterns among plastic surgeons who perform inferior turbinoplasty during rhinoplasty.

Methods: Members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons were invited to participate in an anonymous, Internet-based survey containing questions related to personal preferences and outcomes in inferior turbinate surgery.

Personality trait predictors of placebo analgesia and neurobiological correlates.

Personality traits have been shown to interact with environmental cues to modulate biological responses including treatment responses, and potentially having a role in the formation of placebo effects. Here, we assessed psychological traits in 50 healthy controls as to their capacity to predict placebo analgesic effects, placebo-induced activation of μ-opioid neurotransmission and changes in cortisol plasma levels during a sustained experimental pain challenge (hypertonic saline infused in the masseter muscle) with and without placebo administration. Statistical analyses showed that an aggregate of scores from Ego-Resiliency, NEO Altruism, NEO Straightforwardness (positive predictors) and NEO Angry Hostility (negative predictor) scales accounted for 25% of the variance in placebo analgesic responses.

Reconstructive surgery training: increased operative volume in plastic surgery residency programs.

Background: Practitioners in other surgical specialties have increasingly advanced their volume of reconstructive procedures traditionally served by plastic surgeons. Because there has not been a previous specialty training comparison, the average operative reconstructive volume of graduating plastic surgery residents was formally compared with that of other specialties.

Methods: The authors review the case log statistical reports of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Professional perceptions of plastic and reconstructive surgery: what primary care physicians think.

Background: The great breadth of the specialty of plastic surgery is often misunderstood by practitioners in other specialties and by the public at large. The authors investigate the perceptions of primary care physicians in training toward the practice of different areas of plastic and reconstructive surgery.

Methods: A short, anonymous, Web-based survey was administered to residents of internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics training programs in the United States.