Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: Clinical Reference Guide

The book follows a well-established format from this publisher, and many readers will be familiar with Pasha and Golub’s Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery: Clinical Reference Guide pocket guide, previously reviewed here. This is another book designed for a large pocket and ease of reference. It is very relevant to our specialty and to our trainees.

A multi-author text, this comprehensively covers far more than just aesthetic, cosmetic facial surgery. At that, however, it is very wide ranging, with chapter titles such as ‘Asian Blepharoplasty’, ‘Anatomy and Physiology of Aging’ (which I read with despair and familiarity) and ‘Non Caucasian Rhinoplasty’. Indeed, rhinoplasty takes up nearly 70 pages, and even delves into our territory with ‘The Functional Nasal Airway’ and I have to say it does it well. I now know my pattern of hair loss is a Norwood Class IV/V, and, in ‘Photography’, that zoom reduces depth of focus (I always thought the opposite applied).

There is excellent coverage of the facial nerve, facial skeletal trauma, neoplasms and congenital abnormalities. Reconstructive techniques are a must for last minute examination revision and ideally suited to the book’s format. The text throughout is in well set out bullet points, with headings that allow ‘dipping in’ rather than reading cover to cover.

The content is far more relevant to the UK ENT trainee than a first glance might suggest (it certainly surprised me). I would certainly recommend it for examination preparation and revision.