Atlas of Oculoplastic and Orbital Surgery PDF

Preface

Over 50 years ago, three surgeons in New York—Byron Smith, Wendell Hughes, and Sidney Fox—working quite independently, realized that plastic surgery around the eye was different. The eye has special needs and should be treated in a special manner to protect its function. Since its inception two generations ago, oculoplastic surgery has constantly evolved. What was once dogma may now be passé. Procedures that were once passé may be resurrected and utilized again. The only constant in oculoplastic surgery is change and evolution. Although I learned this specialty from some of the best in the business, little I do today is the way it was taught to me. Thirty years of teaching residents and fellows modifies conventional wisdom and we all learn from one another.

There is a need to describe practical, simple surgical techniques allowing the comprehensive ophthalmologist to manage basic eyelid and orbital disorders in a safe and effective manner. There is also a need for younger or inexperienced oculoplastic surgeons, neuro-ophthalmologists, and plastic surgeons to benefit from the mistakes and successes of an experienced practitioner. The practice environment 30 years ago was much less competitive and more forgiving, providing a large volume of surgery and allowing for a great deal of innovation.

This book presents a practical, problem-oriented guide to the management of common oculoplastic and orbital disorders. These are mostly simple solutions to often-complicated problems that I have learned over a lifetime of academic and private practice. The procedures are described with surgical photos and illustrations in a casual, didactic fashion, as I would use instructing a resident or fellow. This is not an all-encompassing, encyclopedic text but a practical, somewhat dogmatic approach to the management of common eyelid and orbital disorders. I describe these procedures in a step-by-step manner, which should be very user friendly and has successfully educated a generation of ophthalmology residents and fellows.

This book will teach you to avoid and manage surgical complications and provide guidance for performing a variety of oculoplastic and neuro-ophthalmic surgical procedures effectively and quickly, as developed over a busy 30-year surgical career with extensive input from a plethora of residents and fellows. There may be better ways to perform these procedures but not many.