Hand Repair and Reconstruction

We are pleased to present to our readers a collection of wisdom from across the world on common, yet difficult and evolving topics of hand repair and reconstruction. The articles were commissioned from three continents covering a broad scope of subjects, from basic to complex. The authors are recognized leaders or experienced clinicians. The topics begin with a global view of practice regarding a common problem: fingertip injury; up-to-date views and methods are presented by surgeons from different countries. This topic is followed by four articles on microsurgical hand repair and reconstruction from eminent American, European, and Asian microsurgical teams. Later, we present five articles on bone and joint topics, as well as a group of articles on updates for tendon and nerve repair, secondary nerve reconstruction, and compression neuropathy. We conclude with a review of career-long experience from a master hand surgeon in England in dealing with nerve pain in the upper extremity.

We organized this issue of Clinics in Plastic Surgery with an emphasis on providing up-to-date or innovative approaches to frequently seen hand problems. The contents are balanced to cover the fundamental concepts and methods to trainees as well as to teach experienced specialists about advanced methods for complex (yet common) hand problems. Each article is intended to embrace both background knowledge and the most modern techniques, together with descriptions of the authors’ own or preferred methods and practice tips. A superlative collection of pictures of surgical procedures and unique cases is included. Most of the articles also discuss current problems, controversies, and future perspectives.

We are pleased with and recognize the value of the constructive advice and technical tips offered by the authors—who are frequent mentors at international meetings. As you read through, you will find they provide current guidelines and identify key practice issues; you are brought to the cutting-edge of the field by its authoritative leaders. We anticipate these articles not only provide practical tips to help our readers in daily practice, but also stimulate exploratory approaches to tackle controversial or unsolved problems.

We are much indebted to the authors of each article. They contributed highly instructive, nicely crafted articles to fit the needs of our readers. During editing and production, each article was read by an experienced surgeon, to make sure he or she can acquire something new, as well as a plastic surgery resident to ascertain that sufficient background is provided for trainees. We are fortunate to have senior editor, Joanne Husovski, who guided us through the editing process, and our developmental editor, Donald Mumford, in the making of this production. Special gratitude is given to Bella Avanessian, a talented writer and resident with great interest in pursuing a career in hand surgery. She served as an editorial assistant and a resident reviewer in the arduous parts to ensure that complex techniques are described clearly such that they would be easily understood by junior surgeons or trainees. We are grateful to the colleagues who contributed their operative pictures or patient data; their contributions are acknowledged in the figure legends.

Finally, readers are directed to two special editorial features: the first is from Dr Tang, with tips to make complex hand surgery more simple. The second is from Dr Tang and Dr Avanessian, on new tendon, nerve, and bone surgical methods that have impact for the surgeon performing hand surgery.

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