Pediatric and Adolescent Plastic Surgery for the Clinician

This book describes plastic surgery treatments in children for e.g. cleft lip and palate, polydactyly and syndactyly, pigment lesions, benign and malign skin and soft tissue tumors, and vascular anomalies. Every chapter starts with a short introduction, followed by sections on patient evaluation, treatment options and postoperative care. Supporting images and pitfalls are also included. Based on the authors experience, the book offers pediatric plastic surgeons a valuable guide in their everyday work, while also introducing interested practitioners to the field.

Pediatric plastic surgery is a specific field of surgery which includes reconstructive and aesthetic-cosmetic procedures in children. The majority of procedures are reconstructive in nature, making aesthetic considerations especially important. As aesthetic procedures in children are not so frequent, only a small group of clinicians are familiar with this part of surgery.

Dr. Aleksandar Vlahovic is a Pediatric and Plastic and Reconstructive surgeon who received his medical degree from the School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia in 1995, prior to completing his specialization as a pediatric surgeon (in 2001) and as a plastic and reconstructive surgeon (in 2015) at the same university. Currently, he works in the Department for Pediatric Plastic Surgery and Burns, part of the Republic of Serbia’s Institute for Mother and Child Health Care.

He has completed professional training at the Great Ormond Hospital, London, UK (plastic surgery department); Showa University, Clinic for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Tokyo, Japan; and the Clinic for Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive surgery at LKH University Clinic in Graz, Austria.

Dr. Vlahovic is a member of the Serbian Medical Chamber and Serbian Society of Pediatric Surgeons, the Serbian Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (SRBPRAS), Balkan Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (BAPRAS), and European Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic surgery (ESPRAS). Furthermore, he is involved in the Central European Exchange Program for University Studies (CEEPUS).

During his 15 years as a specialist, he has operated on over 4,000 children with a broad spectrum of pediatric plastic surgery-related problems.

Dr. Emir Haxhija received his medical degree from the medical school of the University of Graz, Austria in 1998 and his PhD from the same university in 1998. He received various preclinical and clinical trainings at the Rainbow Babies and Children`s Hospital of the Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA; Children`s Hospital of Philadelphia, PA, USA and the Medical University Graz, Austria. He completed his postgraduate studies in surgery at C.S. Mott Children`s Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI, USA. Since 2006, he works as a consultant pediatric surgeon at the Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Surgery at the Medical University Graz, Austria, where he received his venia docendi in 2009. Dr. Haxhija is an active member of the Austrian Surgical Society, the Austrian Society of Pediatric Surgery, the European Association of Pediatric Surgeons (EUPSA), and the European Society of Pediatric Endoscopic Surgeons (ESPES). He was an invited lecturer on numerous congresses worldwide, served as visiting professor and visiting surgeon in a number of countries, and held as instructor various teaching courses especially dealing with plastic and reconstructive surgery in childhood.