A study published in The American Journal of Surgery found that breast surgery patients spent less time at the surgery facility when they had their operation at an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) vs. a hospital. The study found  that on average the total time was 69 minutes shorter at the ASC.

The authors were able to do the study because they had an ASC that was closed in 2005, and then breast operations were done at a hospital, allowing them to do a complete comparison.

Ninety-two patients who underwent breast operations at the ASC were compared with 92 patients who underwent outpatient breast operations at the hospital, and the following factors were analyzed:

• Anesthetic techniques
• Recovery room events
• Duration of stay (pre- through post-op times)

The results found that age and recovery times were similar. Complications were negligible at both the ASC and hospital; most notable, according to the study, was that 10 patients at the hospital has excessive pain, compared with 3 at the ASC (none required hospital admission).

However, the preoperative and total facility time increased when breast cases were moved back to the hospital setting.

The researchers wrote: “Findings support a common perception, namely, that outpatient surgery can be more efficiently performed at a dedicated outpatient center rather than at a hospital setting.”

Some of the reasons for the efficiency of the ASC include:

• Nurses at the ASC only prep outpatients, whereas hospital nurses may process both outpatients and critically ill patients.
• The ASC was limited to a relatively small and uniform set of cases, whereas the hospital has a more varied and complex case mix, which can cause surgery delays.
• The preoperative area in the ASC was physically closer to the OR compared with the hospital setting.

The study’s authors concluded that “the potential efficiency advantage of an ASC over a hospital has implications for patient and staff satisfaction, facility expense, and surgeon productivity.”

Dr. Grenley was one of the first board-certified plastic surgeons in Seattle to open a state-certified office-based surgery center.

Newsweek.com has a new special report on the “The Beauty Advantage” that argues that the quest to look good isn’t just “a vain pursuit” and that beauty can affect your career and life.

The article argues that in today’s economy looking good is something that can’t be dismissed as frivolous:

“Economists have long recognized what’s been dubbed the ‘beauty premium’—the idea that pretty people, whatever their aspirations, tend to do better in, well, almost everything. Handsome men earn, on average, 5 percent more than their less-attractive counterparts (good-looking women earn 4 percent more); pretty people get more attention from teachers, bosses, and mentors; even babies stare longer at good-looking faces (and we stare longer at good-looking babies).”

According to economist Daniel Hamermesh, a good-looking man will make some $250,000 more during his career than his least-attractive counterpart. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 13 percent of women (and 10 percent of men, according to a Newsweek survey), say they’d consider cosmetic surgery if it made them more competitive at work.

These survey respondents may be on to something: Newsweek surveyed 202 corporate hiring managers and 964 members of the public, and 56 percent of hiring managers said that qualified but unattractive candidates are likely to have a harder time getting a job. More than half advised spending as much time and money on “making sure they look attractive” as on perfecting a résumé.

The survey also asked hiring managers to rate nine character attributes from one to 10 (with 10 being the most important): looks came in third, below experience and confidence, but above where an applicant went to school.

The Newsweek special report includes a variety of online essays, photo galleries, and interactive features on the “beauty advantage.”

Botox has been approved in the U.K. as a tool for preventing chronic migraine headaches. Best known as a wrinkle treatment, it can now be used on migraine patients in the U.K. who have headaches at least 15 days a month, including migraines on 8 days, according to Allergan’s press release.

The clinical trial involved almost 1,400 adults who had a history of migraines. Participants experienced 15 or more headache days of which at least half were migraine or probable migraine during the 28-day baseline period. After the baseline period, patients were randomized to receive either Botox injections or placebo.

By week 24 following treatment, those who received Botox averaged 8.2 fewer migraine days, which was significantly greater than the change from baseline observed in placebo treated patients of 6.2 days.

Migraine symptoms may include severe headache; visual disturbances such as spots or flashing lights; sensitivity to light, noise, or smells; and nausea and vomiting.

“We have been following these studies really closely and the evidence is really pretty solid. These people spend half their lives in pain. Even if they get half the attacks, it can really improve their quality of life,” said Lee Tomkins, director of Migraine Action, a charity that provides information and support to those who suffer from migraines and their families throughout the U.K. and overseas.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration may decide this month whether the product can be sold for migraines, Aaron Gal, a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst in New York, said in May.

In the U.S., Botox can be used to treat eye muscle spasms and wrinkles, and there are also many off-label uses for Botox, such as to relax muscles in stroke patients and to treat excessive sweating.

According to statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons,  Botox was the number one minimally-invasive cosmetic procedure in 2009 in the United States.

The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery has launched Project Beauty, a new consumer website that will cover a range of beauty topics through videos, blog entries, and forums.

The site’s goal is to deliver consumers from confusion and cut through the clutter, by answering consumer questions such as: What treatments work? Which don’t? How can you tell if a product is legitimate or just marketing hype?

To kickoff the launch of Project Beauty, the site is hosting a month-long giveaway contest called “30 Days of Beauty.”  Each day from July 6, 2010 to August 4, 2010, Project Beauty will offer one prize (prizes include a Sonicare toothbrush; Mederma Stretch Marks Therapy; and SmashBox cosmetics) per day. To win, people must join the Project Beauty Community, and enter daily to win the prize of the day.

Project Beauty is updated on a weekly basis and features a list of experts on fashion, makeup, and skincare as well as news and first person stories on all things related to cosmetic surgery.

Current videos include a teenager who shares her reasons for getting rhinoplasty at fifteen; a step-by-step guide to applying makeup for the day; and a dentist who shares why he got a facelift.

Project Beauty also launched a social media campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to promote the website and share valuable information and videos from ProjectBeauty.com with a wide audience of viewers.

To join the Project Beauty community, sign up at www.projectbeauty.com.

A recent story on the Stylelist website warns consumers about bargain plastic surgery, a trend that can be seen from billboards advertising “bargain boob jobs” in California to an ad in Florida touting “$8 Botox” injections.

These “bargains” could come at the cost of patient safety.

“To get the cost down, they could be cutting back on things like general anesthesia. They make you feel like the procedure must be easier and not so serious if you’re just getting local sedation. Nothing could be further from the truth,” says Dr. Marcel Daniels, a plastic surgeon in Long Beach, Calif.

Another part of this trend is that doctors who studied a different branch of medicine, such as gynecology, are performing plastic surgery procedures, according to Stylelist.

“Many physicians not trained as plastic surgeons can legally perform a surgical procedure in their office. These people often claim that they can do the same procedure as a plastic surgeon under local anesthesia and may even claim they are more scientifically advanced,” says Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. John Anastasatos. “The truth is that they don’t have surgical privileges at hospitals and surgery centers because they simply are not surgeons and never trained as surgeons.”

Avoid these plastic surgery pitfalls by researching your doctor to make sure he or she has plastic surgery training. The American Board of Plastic Surgery website has a free database where consumers can search to see if a doctor has plastic surgery board certification. The article also warns against doctors who don’t have before-and-after photos to show patients.

Dr. Grenley is a board certified plastic surgeon with an office-based surgery center in Seattle, Washington. Before-and-after photos of his work are available on his online photo gallery.

The full article, “‘Free’ Plastic Surgery: The Dangers of Bargain Breasts and Botox” is available on Styleist.com. (Photo by Aaron Gruenert, courtesy of Stylelist.com)

You may have heard of the “mommy makeover” phenomenon—where new moms get several cosmetic procedures—typically a breast augmentation, tummy tuck, and/or breast lift—to help return their bodies to their pre-pregnancy shape.

And while women make up the majority of plastic surgery patients, men see the benefits as well. According to 2009 statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), men received 13 percent of all cosmetic surgical procedures and 9 percent of all cosmetic minimally-invasive procedures performed last year in the United States.

Dad Bill Neville, 52, recently shared his plastic surgery story with reporter Elise Morgan of WHNT NEWS 19 in Huntsville, Alabama. Neville has a four-year-old son and began to worry about how old he looked. “He’s going to start t-ball, swimming, and I don’t want to be out there with the rest of the dads and have them looking at me like, ‘Hey! Grandpa is out here to watch his grandson!’” he said.

Neville realized he could change some things with diet and exercise but decided to get plastic surgery as well. “Just rolling back the clock a bit on this turkey gobbler and possibly getting the skin off my eyelids would be great,” he said before he had surgery.

Neville’s surgeries included his eyelids, a facelift, a neck lift, laser resurfacing of his skin, and injections to fill in wrinkles. “I was hoping not to look real “plasticky” and stretched, and I don’t think I do,” said Neville. “I think it looks real natural and everyone I’ve talked to thinks it looks great.”

Wondering what the most common procedures men ask for? ASPS statistics show that the top 5 cosmetic surgical procedures and minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures for men last year were:

1. Rhinoplasty (surgical) / Botox (minimally-invasive)
2. Eyelid surgery / Microdermabrasion
3. Liposuction / Laser hair removal
4. Breast reduction / Chemical Peel
5. Hair transplantation / Wrinkle fillers

The full story and a video of Bill Neville is on the WHNT News website: “Plastic Surgery for Men Isn’t Taboo”.

Related story: “A guy could get used to this no-lines life” – A male Los Angeles Times reporter writes about his experience getting Botox treatment.

Everyone knows that Botox fights wrinkles; a new study shows it could also fight pain in some patients with a debilitating nerve compression disorder called thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS).

Researchers at Johns Hopkins reported that patients treated with a single, low-dose injection of Botox in a neck muscle had a reduction in short-term pain.

The study, published in Pain Medicine, suggests that Botox could be a minimally-invasive alternative to the surgery used to treat TOS, which involves removal of the first rib and severing one of the muscles in the neck.

Paul J. Christo, M.D., M.B.A., an assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the study’s lead author, says: “There haven’t been many alternatives to the use of surgery to treat this syndrome. Botox seems to be an effective treatment that avoids surgery’s obvious drawbacks, such as its invasive nature and long recovery time.”

To maintain the results, Botox injections would have to be repeated every few months, since the effects don’t last. Dr. Christo says patients should be able to receive repeated injections of Botox into the muscle over time, though some could develop antibodies to the compound with excessive use, which would mean the toxin would no longer block pain.

As research continues on this new use for Botox, its use as a wrinkle fighter is as popular as ever. The most recent procedural statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons showed it was the number one minimally-invasive cosmetic procedure performed last year in the country. It is also one of the procedures Dr. Grenley performs in his state-certified officed-based surgery center in Seattle.

For more information on this new use for Botox, read the Johns Hopkins Medicine release titled “Botox Eases Nerve Pain in Certain Patients.”

An article published in the current issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery discusses the factors that motivate young women to undergo procedures such as breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, liposuction, and abdominoplasty.

A survey conducted on 3500 (1862 respondents) young women in northern Norway revealed specific factors –both physical and psychological –that can predict an interest in specific procedures.

Respondents who were interested in rhinoplasty, breast augmentation, and liposuction were motivated by “complex psychological factors.”   Researchers found correlations with lifestyle factors such as divorce, history of teasing, education, self-image, body dysmorphic disorder, and the “Big-Five personality traits.”

Questions about tummy tuck surgery presented some unique findings.  Most participants who were interested in the procedure were interested in it exclusively. Having children and having a desire to repair the bodily changes occurring after childbirth were a consistent predictor of interest for the procedure.

Read the abstract online on Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Journal

“I think I have more of a petite face and my nose was kind of overbearing,” says Allison, a teenager from Staten Island.  Allison explains her desire to undergo rhinoplasty, how she found a board-certified plastic surgeon, and how the surgery changed her life.

She’s featured in this video on Project Beauty, a brand new consumer advice website launched by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.

Rhinoplasty = Nose Reshaping

Rhinoplasty can be translated into “nose-shaping.”  Many surgical techniques exist to alter the shape of your nose. If your nose appears disproportional or unbalanced, rhinoplasty can help.  If your nose is short, long, wide, narrow, crooked, or just large, there are ways to reshape it while maintaining a natural appearance.

Two Methods

Plastic surgeons are performing this procedure with two basic techniques: the closed technique and open technique.  In the closed technique (which is used on most patients), all incisions are made inside your nose and the skin is not lifted away from the bone and cartilage.  In the open technique, the plastic surgeon lifts the skin to obtain a clear view of the underlying nasal structure.

Finding the ideal nose shape

Because your face has a different size and shape than the next person, your ideal nose will differ as well.  You also have to take ethnic considerations into account, as many patients do not wish to completely erase these characteristics.

Aside these relative aspects of rhinoplasty, there are general aesthetic qualities that almost everyone will find appealing.   Most agree that the nasal dorsum should be straight, the tip should be somewhat narrow, and a small dip should be present between the nasal dorsum and the tip. Ask your plastic surgeon to show you photos of these qualities during your consultation.

A Possible Alternative

In some cases, the nose actually exhibits a normal shape and proportion, but it appears unbalanced because of a weak chin.  A facial implant or chin augmentation procedure can often solve this problem by increasing the projection of your chin.

If Allergan Inc is an accurate meter of demand for plastic surgery then an economic recovery is definitely in the works for plastic surgeons.

First quarter earnings for the Botox maker are way up. Second quarter forecasts, according to the Wall Street Journal, are way ahead of expectations.  Given the procedure statistics just released by the ASPS, their success shouldn’t be so surprising.  According to the society, minimally invasive procedures have increased an incredible 99 percent this decade.

Chart image courtesy of the ASPS

Topping the list are wrinkle fillers and botulinum toxin injections, two treatments in which plastic surgeons will likely utilize an Allergan product.  It doesn’t hurt to that Allergan is on the cutting-edge of aesthetic medicine either.  With the new “no-pain” Juvederm Ultra XC making its way to cosmetic practices and the increasing popularity of Latisse, Allergan’s unique eyelash enhancement drug.