Podcast · Health

Plastics in Practice (Resident Review)

by Plastics in Practice · English · Health

A podcast built for plastic surgery trainees. Each episode reviews CME articles and topics from the ASPS Resident Curriculum, breaking them down into core concepts, clinical pearls, and exam-ready takeaways. Listen on your commute, between cases, or while studying—anywhere you want high-yield plasti

New episodes: Several times a week
Typical length: 23 min
Latest: 13 Oct 2026
Language: English

Latest episode

13 Oct 2026 · 25 minNew

Common Congenital Hand Anomalies: Function Guides Treatment

A visible hand difference does not tell you which operation, if any, will improve function. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review how examination guides syndactyly timing, thumb duplication reconstruction and camptodactyly treatment. Key takeaways: • Observe reach, grasp and thumb use, then examine the whole limb and look for associated findings. • Describe syndactyly by the digits involved and whether the connection is soft tissue alone or includes bone. • A longer finger joined to a shorter neighbor can become tethered during growth. The anatomy helps determine when separation…

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Earlier episodes 29 most recent

11 Oct 2026 · 27 min
Management of the Burned Hand: Preserve Function
A closed burn wound can still leave a hand that barely moves. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review how to recognize threatened circulation, reassess burn depth, and protect hand function while the wound heals. Key takeaways: • After immediate trauma priorities, remove rings and assess circulation, sensation and movement. • Cool fingers, worsening sensation, delayed refill or deteriorating Doppler signals need urgent burn surgical assessment. Do not wait for pulse loss. • Reassess depth and healing progress; a potentially deep hand burn needs early specialist input. • Typical…
10 Oct 2026 · 19 min
Management of Vasoconstriction: Look Beyond Spasm
Poor perfusion needs an explanation beyond the word spasm. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review how to distinguish reversible narrowing from structural and mechanical problems, recognize threatened perfusion, and match treatment to the cause. Key takeaways: • Raynaud attacks do not always show the complete white-blue-red sequence; interpret the history, examination and nailfold findings together. • Persistent pain, cold pallor, new sensory loss or tissue injury requires urgent assessment for threatened perfusion. • Consider proximal arterial disease, emboli and trauma-related…
9 Oct 2026 · 21 min
Hand Tumors: Assessment and Biopsy Planning
A small, painless hand mass can still need a carefully planned diagnosis before excision. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review how imaging and biopsy planning help clarify an unexplained hand mass while protecting later treatment options and hand function. Key takeaways: • Most hand masses are benign, but small size and lack of pain do not exclude sarcoma. • An enlarging, firm, deep or otherwise unexplained mass deserves further assessment rather than an assumed benign diagnosis. • Ultrasound can help distinguish cystic from solid tissue; that distinction alone is not a cancer…
7 Oct 2026 · 10 min
Dupuytren’s Disease: Function, Anatomy and Treatment
A fascial cord can tether the finger, but releasing it does not resolve every part of the deformity. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review assessment of Dupuytren’s disease, secondary joint stiffness, altered neurovascular anatomy, and treatment choices that balance correction, recovery and recurrence. Key takeaways: • Dupuytren’s affects the palmar and digital fascia. The cord is diseased fascia, not a shortened flexor tendon. • Start with function. Consider the patient’s priorities, joint stiffness and perioperative risks before choosing treatment. • Longstanding proximal…
4 Oct 2026 · 21 min
Thumb Reconstruction
Rebuilding a thumb means restoring useful pinch and grasp. Length is only part of the problem. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review functional assessment, sensate coverage, and reconstruction choices after thumb tissue loss or amputation. Key takeaways: • Restore useful pinch and grasp. Assess length, stability, motion and sensation alongside the carpometacarpal joint, thenar function, first web space and remaining fingers. • An acute thumb amputation needs urgent specialist replantation assessment. Feasibility, injury pattern and patient priorities guide the decision. •…
21 Sep 2026 · 23 min
Hand and Upper Extremity Replantation
A surviving replant is only the beginning. The goal is a hand that can feel, move, and serve the patient’s needs. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review patient selection, preservation, injury assessment, reconstruction, monitoring, and rehabilitation after upper-extremity amputation. Key takeaways: • Useful function is the goal. Consider sensation, motion, pain, hand demands, and rehabilitation alongside the likelihood of survival. • Stabilize the patient and seek early specialist assessment. Preserve a detached part in saline-moistened gauze inside a sealed waterproof bag…
5 Sep 2026 · 18 min
Mangled Upper Extremity Salvage
A mangled upper extremity can look unsalvageable before resuscitation, perfusion, and debridement reveal what function remains. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we build a practical limb-salvage sequence—from life-threatening priorities and early antibiotics to revascularization, compartment assessment, reconstruction, and rehabilitation. Key takeaways: • Put life before limb. Complete trauma resuscitation, control hemorrhage, and document perfusion, motor function, and sensation before committing to salvage or amputation. • A MESS of seven is a risk signal, not an upper-extremity…
22 Aug 2026 · 24 min
Ligament Injuries of the Hand and Wrist
A normal-looking radiograph can hide a ligament injury that becomes stiffness, deformity, or arthritis if it is missed.In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we connect reduction, stability testing, imaging, early motion, and operative decision points across finger, thumb, carpal, and distal radioulnar joint injuries.Key takeaways:• Treat the PIP joint as a motion emergency: permanent stiffness can develop within about two weeks. After reduction, confirm congruity and stability, then begin early protected motion when the joint is stable.[1]• Use the thirty-fifty rule as a guide for dorsal…
17 Aug 2026 · 21 min
Principles of Tendon Transfers
A tendon transfer can be perfectly woven and still fail if the joint is stiff, the tissue bed is scarred, or the donor cannot match the lost motion. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we build a practical framework for tendon transfers—from donor selection and tensioning to radial, median, and ulnar nerve palsy reconstruction and postoperative retraining. Key takeaways: • Make the hand ready first: joints must be supple, and the transfer must glide through a quiet soft-tissue bed. A contracture release and tendon transfer require incompatible rehabilitation and should not be combined.…
15 Aug 2026 · 23 min
Upper Extremity Tenosynovitis and Tendinopathy
Radial wrist pain, a locking digit, and lateral elbow pain can all be called overuse—but a few centimeters can change the diagnosis, treatment, and surgical target. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we map de Quervain tenosynovitis, intersection syndrome, trigger finger, and lateral elbow tendinopathy from focused examination through splinting, injection, rehabilitation, and surgical release. Key takeaways: • Map radial-sided symptoms by location: de Quervain disease localizes at the radial styloid, while intersection syndrome produces dorsoradial pain and often crepitus four to six…
15 Aug 2026 · 27 min
Extensor Tendon Surgery: Zones, Traps, and Early Motion
Extensor tendon injuries are easy to underestimate: a small dorsal wound can conceal a complete laceration, a contaminated MCP joint, or a central slip injury that declares itself later. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review the examination, zone-based repair strategy, rehabilitation, complications, and reconstruction of extensor tendon injuries. Key takeaways: • Use the eight-zone map to localize injury and choose a repair and rehabilitation plan; odd-numbered zones lie over joints. • Test beyond simple active extension: juncturae can mask a complete zone-six EDC laceration,…
13 Aug 2026 · 28 min
Flexor Tendon Repair: Strength, Glide, and Early Motion
Flexor tendon repair succeeds only when construct strength, tendon glide, pulley preservation, and rehabilitation are planned as one system. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review the evaluation, zone-based strategy, repair principles, rehabilitation, complications, and salvage of flexor tendon injuries. Key takeaways: • Detect loss of the normal cascade or tenodesis effect, test flexor digitorum profundus and superficialis independently, and document neurovascular status. • Let the injury zone drive exposure and repair; zone II demands especially careful sheath and pulley…
12 Aug 2026 · 17 min
Wrist Fractures: Distal Radius and Scaphoid Decision Points
Wrist fracture decisions turn on a few measurements, but the right threshold depends on the patient, the image, and the bone. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review distal radius and carpal fractures with an emphasis on reduction, fixation, and the diagnostic traps that change management. Key takeaways: • Document median nerve function and distal radioulnar joint stability before and after distal radius reduction. • In study-defined non-geriatric adults, post-reduction radial shortening greater than three millimeters, dorsal tilt greater than ten degrees, or intra-articular…
9 Aug 2026 · 19 min
Hand Fractures: Reduction, Fixation, and Early Motion
Hand fracture outcomes often hinge on what radiographs miss — rotation, post-reduction stability, and whether fixation permits early motion. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review metacarpal and phalangeal fracture management — rotational alignment, stability, fixation strategy, early motion, thumb-base injuries, proximal interphalangeal joint fracture-dislocations, and complications. Key takeaways: • Examine each injured digit in maximal extension and flexion. Scissoring reveals malrotation; persistent rotation after reduction is operative.³ • Stable, nondisplaced closed…
8 Aug 2026 · 24 min
Upper Extremity Nerve Injuries and Compression Neuropathies
Peripheral nerve deficits are a race against irreversibledenervation — misclassify the lesion or miss the level of compression, and observation becomes lost recovery time. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review traumaticperipheral nerve injury and the compression neuropathies that matter across the median, ulnar, and radial nerves — how to classify the lesion, time electrodiagnostic testing, recognize localization traps, and choose observation versus decompression or repair. Key takeaways: · Neurapraxia is a conduction block with intactaxons and expected recovery within two to…
31 May 2026 · 24 min
Hand Infections: Diagnosis and Management
Hand infections deteriorate fast — the same anatomy that gives the hand its function turns ordinary swelling into ischemia, tendon necrosis, and permanent loss of motion. This episode walks through how to recognize and manage everything from paronychia and felon to pyogenic flexor tenosynovitis, deep space infections, bite injuries, and necrotizing fasciitis — with the surgical pitfalls every resident needs to know cold. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we cover the anatomy that makes the hand vulnerable, when to splint and when to cut, the Kanavel signs you'll be quizzed on, the…
28 May 2026 · 17 min
Upper Extremity Anesthesia Essentials
Upper extremity surgery is, at its core, a regional anesthesia specialty. Choose the right block in the right place and most hand and arm cases never need general anesthesia. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we work through the practical anesthesia decision tree for the upper extremity: brachial plexus block locations and their trade-offs, peripheral nerve blocks at the elbow and wrist, the Bier block, digital block techniques, and the modern, evidence-based truth about epinephrine in the finger. Key takeaways: - Severe systemic toxicity is almost always an intravascular accident -…
25 May 2026 · 17 min
Functional Anatomy and Principles of Upper Extremity Surgery
Every hand case rests on the same foundation: knowing which joints need mobility, which need stability, and how to run an acute hand with a trauma-first mindset. Get this layer right, and every chapter after it makes sense. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we cover the foundational anatomy and operative principles of the upper extremity: how the thumb, finger, and wrist joints differ in their tolerance for stiffness and instability; the classic deformities (swan-neck, boutonniere, DISI, VISI) and the ligaments that produce them; the acute hand workup from "life over limb" through ER…
24 May 2026 · 24 min
Lymphedema: Diagnosis and Treatment
Lymphedema is the chronic disease plastic surgeons are best positioned to treat — and the most commonly mismanaged. After axillary node dissection, up to 50% of breast cancer patients develop it, and most never get the early, disciplined care that prevents progression to fibrofatty disease. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review the essentials of lymphedema management — from how the lymphatic system fails to the diagnostic threshold (2 cm or 200 ml difference), staging by the International Society of Lymphology, the role of Complex Decongestive Therapy as the gold-standard…
19 May 2026 · 24 min
Pressure Sore Fundamentals
Pressure sores are the wound the plastic surgeon gets consulted on after everything else has gone wrong — and the recurrence rate is brutal if you skip the basics. The lesson nobody teaches you in residency is that the surgery is the easy part. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review the basics of pressure sore management: the pathophysiology of pressure-time injury, the six-stage NPUAP system, what you absolutely have to optimize preoperatively (albumin, A1c, spasm, contractures, osteomyelitis), how to choose between fasciocutaneous and musculocutaneous flaps for ischial, sacral,…
17 May 2026 · 21 min
Perineal Reconstruction: Principles and Flap Selection
Few regions punish poor planning like the perineum — the pelvic outlet sits at the crossroads of the urinary, gynecologic, and GI tracts, and the wrong flap choice in an irradiated or contaminated field gets you back in the OR fast. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we walk through the core principles of perineal reconstruction: anatomy and vascular supply, the reconstructive ladder, pelvic dead-space management, and the workhorse flaps you actually need to know — VRAM, gracilis, posterior thigh, Singapore, and the greater omentum. We finish with functional restoration in both female…
15 May 2026 · 22 min
Foot and Ankle Reconstruction: Core Principles
Saving a foot is rarely about the flap. It's about the angiosome you re-perfuse, the millimeters of debridement you take, and whether you lengthen a tight Achilles before you ever think about closure. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we cover the principles of foot and ankle reconstruction: the six angiosomes and how they should drive every revascularization, incision, and flap design; the role of the multidisciplinary team in salvaging a limb that traditionally would have been amputated; and the practical algorithm for moving a chronic wound to closure — debridement, NPWT, dermal…
14 May 2026 · 26 min
Lower Extremity Reconstruction: Core Principles
Lower extremity reconstruction is the most unforgiving testing ground in plastic surgery — every decision is graded by whether the patient can bear weight, walk, and protect a sensate foot for the rest of their life. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we walk through the core principles of lower extremity salvage: the zone-of-injury concept, when to fix vs. amputate, fracture management, soft-tissue coverage by leg third, and the trade-offs between limb salvage and a well-fit below-knee amputation. Key takeaways Salvage is judged against amputation, not “normal.” The goal is a limb…
13 May 2026 · 23 min
Abdominal Wall Reconstruction: Core Principles
Abdominal wall reconstruction is where plastic surgery principles get tested in real time — and it's where most failures start with one wrong assumption about force distribution. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review the basics of abdominal wall reconstruction: how to think about the abdomen as a pressurized cylinder, why supported repairs beat bridged repairs almost every time, how to read the components separation technique like a physiology problem instead of a memorization problem, and how to choose between synthetic and bioprosthetic mesh in a contaminated field. We close…
12 May 2026 · 28 min
Chest Wall Reconstruction Essentials
Chest wall reconstruction is where rigid skeletal support and versatile soft tissue coverage meet — and where a wrong flap choice or a missed debridement step turns a small defect into a respiratory disaster. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review the basics of chest wall reconstruction: the anatomy that drives every decision, when you actually need to rebuild the skeleton, how to classify and treat sternal wound infections, and how to pick the right flap based on the location and depth of the defect. Key takeaways: Skeletal reconstruction is classically indicated for defects…
10 May 2026 · 22 min
Hair Transplantation Essentials
Hair restoration is one of the most planning-dependent procedures in plastic surgery — a single wrong call on the hairline or the donor strip can show up for the rest of the patient's life. In this episode of Plastics in Practice we walk through what residents actually need to know about modern hair transplantation: how to evaluate the donor area, how to think about lifetime donor yield, the trade-offs between strip excision and FUE, graft preparation and the out-of-body clock, recipient site design (hairline placement, angle and direction, ethnic and gender variations), postoperative…
10 May 2026 · 18 min
Osseous Genioplasty
Osseous genioplasty is the most versatile tool the plastic surgeon has for the lower face — and the most commonly mis-planned. In this episode of Plastics in Practice, we review the basics of chin surgery: when to pick the osteotomy over an implant, the five-pillar physical exam, the technical steps that decide your aesthetic result, and the pitfalls that cause the bizarre "overadvanced" chin we've all seen on revision. Key takeaways: • The lower lip rule: never advance the chin past a vertical line dropped from the lower lip. Cross it, and the result looks artificial every time.¹• 3-D…
8 Apr 2026 · 23 min
Facial Implants
Facial implants can dramatically change facial balance, but the difference between a natural result and an operated look comes down to planning, positioning, and fixation. In this episode, we break down the core principles of facial skeletal augmentation with implants for the plastic surgery resident. We review the major implant materials, the anatomic targets across the midface and mandible, and the operative concepts that matter most in real cases. This includes why subperiosteal placement is preferred, why screw fixation remains a key technical principle, and how to think through chin…
6 Apr 2026 · 18 min
Otoplasty Essentials
Prominent ears are not one deformity. They are usually a combination problem involving the antihelix, concha, and lobule. In this episode, we break down a practical, anatomy-first approach to otoplasty that helps you create a natural setback without a sharp, overdone, or obviously operated appearance. We review the major causes of auricular prominence, the aesthetic goals of correction, and the core maneuvers every plastic surgery resident should know. The focus is on reliable, cartilage-sparing principles: Mustarde sutures for antihelical recreation, Furnas sutures and selective conchal…

About Plastics in Practice (Resident Review)

Plastics in Practice (Resident Review) is a English health podcast from Plastics in Practice. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.

Publisher: Plastics in Practice
Language: English
Category: Health
New episodes: Several times a week
Typical length: 23 min
Latest episode: 13 Oct 2026
Feed: RSS — paste into any podcast app
Apple Podcasts: podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1835564216
Rights: Plastics in Practice

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