In this era of evidence-based medicine, outcome measurements are becoming increasingly important to proposing and justifying treatment protocols. Dr Edwin G. Wilkins, the outcomes editor, acknowledges the incomplete data available for many of the chapters, but this is a current shortcoming of plastic surgery, not this book. In future editions, we anticipate more detailed outcomes sections. Overall, this collection of volumes is consistent and well organized, with most chapters following an outline of introduction, problem presentation, operative treatment, and patient outcome. The chapters within each volume are relatively short, straightforward, and readable even for busy residents.
References are numerous and guide the surgeon to more in-depth reading.
The 98-page index is extensive and easy to use. Other popular plastic surgery textbooks include Grabb and Smith's Plastic Surgery and Converse's Reconstructive Plastic Surgery . Grabb and Smith has recently been updated but is a one-volume textbook with understandably limited material. The new edition of the Converse multivolume set is in the works, but the distribution date is unknown at this writing. Although somewhat expensive for the plastic surgery resident, this new text does encompass many subjects in detail and may eliminate the expense of purchasing several individual texts.