Web-based decision support tools for prospective breast augmentation patients can offer helpful information, even enhancing the doctor-patient consultation. However, surgeons should warn their patients that some of these sites focus more on making money than on credibility.

One surgeon has optimized his use of a grid system to help eliminate dog ears and maximize predictability of abdominoplasty results.

Although several post-operative wound dressings and techniques are available, according to one surgeon, post-operative wounds heal best with moisture-retentive dressings or agents.

Could a by-product of multicomponent pheresis developed over three decades ago now be used as an agent to improve normal wound healing? Autologous platelet gel (APG) from healthy individuals may be such an agent to enhance quick, complete wound healing, according to findings from a recent report in the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery.

Hydrogen peroxide is commonly used to clean and prep wounds in a surgical setting, but as a recent study clearly demonstrates, the use of hydrogen peroxide on absorbable gut sutures significantly decreases their tensile strength and causes premature suture degradation, which will likely lead to wound dehiscence and, possibly, hypertrophic scarring.

Whether you need to capture before-and-after results in a cosmetic procedure for patients or for publication, photo systems can be one of the most valuable of all office tools for a cosmetic practice, providing everything from a portfolio of a doctor's work to documentation in medicolegal situations

The traditional approach to feeding a patient following full abdominoplasty is to wait until the patient has audible bowel activity to commence with the oral intake of food. But one recent study claims such patients can safely begin feeding immediately post-op, without an increase in the incidence of POI.

Pain or discomfort is an expected, natural part of any surgery — at least from the perspective of most cosmetic surgeons.

Cosmetic surgeons are increasingly finding fibrin sealant products useful to reduce bruising and swelling following facelifts.