Authors: Theda C. Contis, MD; and Victor G. Lacombe, MD
Publisher: Thieme – 202 pages
Book Review by: Nano Khilnani
I believe from experience that the best way to learn how to do anything is to read and/or listen, then do what I learned. Without the doing, people tend to forget what they learned, or thought they learned.
Which is why the authors quote the Chinese philosopher Confucius: “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”
Following this wise saying, Drs. Theda Contis and Victor Lacombe provide a lot of the “how-to” of various step-by-step procedures in this valuable guide, containing numerous actual photos of patients and full-color drawings of injection techniques. The photos are provided with helpful captions and the drawings are labeled with lines and arrows.
This book not only provides detailed information in text and visual form in 59 chapters and three appendices, it also enables you to see the surgical and nonsurgical procedures online in videos found on this site: www.MediaCenter.Thieme.com.
The layout of the information presented in this book can be gleaned from its table of contents:
- Introduction to Neurotoxins
- Neurotoxin Injection Techniques
- Introduction to Fillers
- Filler Injection Techniques
Appendices
- Neurotoxin / Filler Injection Techniques Arranged by Order of Difficulty and Level of Experience Required
- Sample Informed Consent Form for Neurotoxin Injections
- Sample Informed Consent Form for Filler Injections
Because the range of skills and experience required to inject substances varies greatly, the authors have devised a four-point scale of difficulty level to guide the “injectors” or service providers:
*Easy
** Intermediate
***Advanced
****Only expert injectors should attempt these injections
The chapters are short and the illustrations are numerous, making for easier learning and practice, to reinforce the learning. At the start of each chapter, the difficulty level is indicated.
Additionally, the patient satisfaction score (based on surveys) and the risk score are provided.
Each chapter typically presents an injections technique. These are the common components of each chapter:
- Indications
- Anatomic Considerations
- Injection Technique (usually the longest part of the chapters)
- Precautions
- Post-Injection Instructions
- Risks
- Pearls of Injection
- Additional Reading
The full-color photos and sketches are presented right after the Pearls of Injection section. The illustrator Sarah E. Faris provides superb drawings with great attention to detail. Her drawing skills have added much value to this book, which is a very good “see-and-do” book. This is an excellent manual on cosmetic injection techniques.
Authors:
Theda C. Kontis, MD, FACS is Assistant Professor at Johns Hopkins Hospital; and a Board-Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon at Facial Plastic Surgicenter in Baltimore, Maryland.
Victor G. Lacombe, MD is a Board-Certified Plastic Surgeon in Santa Rosa, California.
Foreword by:
Jean D. Carruthers, MD, FRSC, FRC (Ophth) is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
Medical Illustrator:
Sarah E. Faris, MA, CMI
