Volume 143, Number 6 • Book and Media Reviews
Simply Local Flaps junior attendings would particularly benefit from
By Michael F. Klaassen, Earle Brown, and Felix Behan. Pp.
202. Springer International Publishing, New York, N.Y., 2018.
Price: $109.
I t is with great pleasure that I review the book
entitled Simply Local Flaps, by Michael Klaas-
sen, Earle Brown,
and Felix Behan.
This work reads eas-
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ily, and simplifies
the treatment of dif-
ficult clinical plastic
surgery scenarios
with the use of local
flaps. Those who
would benefit most
from the book’s con-
tents would be both
experienced plastic
surgeons, looking
for details on how
to perform particu-
lar techniques, such
as the keystone flap
(chapters 12 and 13),
and plastic surgery trainees, who would benefit
from the general approach to plastic surgery deci-
sion making highlighted in the earlier sections of
the book.
The combined experience of the authors
equals approximately 100 years, and this is well
represented by the multitude of drawings and
photographs of clinical cases with the appropri-
ate local flaps applied. Heavily focused on facial
lesions and wounds, the book stresses the basics
of planning and drawing the actual local flaps
with basic ellipse options, and then goes through
intermediate and advanced techniques that
range from rotational flaps to transposition and
pedicled flaps. One particular strength is that the
focus on reconstruction is not only for lesions but
also for surgical complications, such as scars and
contractures, making the book applicable both
to the general plastic surgery practitioner and to
subspecialists in a particular field. While stressing
the basic principles of judgment, design, and sur-
gical planning with the credibility of their experi-
ence, the authors provide a source of information
that would be readily useful to the junior plastic
surgery trainee, who can use this book as a base
from which to address reconstructive problems
in a stepwise fashion. Higher-level trainees and
Copyright © 2019 American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
the more advanced reconstructive techniques
with regard to transposition flaps and local tissue
rearrangement techniques, such as the “jump-
ing man” and the multitude of “plasty” options
described (M, W, and so on).
At its core, this book is also an excellent
reference source for commonly described but
potentially difficult or confusing techniques. It is
simply not possible to have a step-by-step descrip-
tion of every possible local flap described. The
authors make an effort in teaching the principles
of advancement, rotation, and transposition with
the hope that these fundamental principles can
be used in designing solutions. While they stress
at length the fundamentals of design in the begin-
ning and midsections of the book, the last third of
the book is spent describing more complex local
flaps, such as the Karapandzic flap, hinge flaps,
and combination flaps for difficult clinical prob-
lems. With this layout, the reader is methodologi-
cally exposed to an increasingly difficult array of
designs and clinical scenarios without being over-
whelmed, as the beginning chapters act as a foun-
dation for the latter ones. The reader may also
need to reference other articles or surgical atlases
for specific complex flaps.
Every good book has areas for potential
improvement. While the strengths of this book
include its easy readability, well-designed lay-
out, abundance of drawings and patient pho-
tographs, and wealth of appropriate clinical
information for local flap design and applica-
tion, it does focus more on the head and neck
region than on other anatomic regions. There is
no mention of local flaps for the breast, which
would be nice given the rise in oncoplastic sur-
gery and the role of local flaps in increasing
breast conservation. Nevertheless, this book
provides an excellent introduction and sum-
mary of local flap options. It would serve as an
essential read for the plastic surgery trainee and
an excellent reference source for the clinically
busy plastic surgeon.
DOI: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000005682
Abhishek Chatterjee, M.D., M.B.A.
Disclosure: The author has no financial interest to
declare in relation to the content of this book.
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