October 22, 2015

Re-cap of Plastic Surgery The Meeting 2015

It’s a wrap for Plastic Surgery The Meeting 2015 / #PSTM15 – The world’s largest gathering of plastic surgeons and surgical medical professionals. The site of this year’s gathering was in Boston, Massachusetts at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

All sessions were in full force starting as early as 7:00am on Thursday, October 16th and ended at 5:00pm or later. There were also additional meetings, receptions, and events throughout the long week-end and into the final day on Tuesday, October 20^th. Aside from the jammed packed sessions, it was wonderful to see the amazing exhibit floor. We even Tweeted live – using hashtag #PSTM15 – as well as posted on Facebook and on Instagram all day on Monday, October 19^th.

This year, I was invited to be a presenter at this year’s meeting on Monday, October 19th at 8:00am. The presentation was titled Facial Rejuvenation Part 1: Minimizing Complications: Risk Factors and Prevention. The presentation was moderated by J. William Little, MD and I was joined with other fellow physicians: Oren M. Tepper, MD, Z. Paul Lorenc, MD, and Val Lambros, MD. Each of us discussed the following: Facial Fillers (by Paul Lorac, MD), Fat Grafts (by Val Lambros, MD), Blepharoplasty (Oren Tepper, MD), and Face and Neck lift (Patrick Sullivan, MD ).

My presentation focused on prevention and complications with face lifting. I demonstrated how plastic surgeons can prevent potential complications of face lifting by specific planning with specific treatments during the surgery itself. I covered the following:

The prevention of bleeding particularly with patients with high blood pressure.
How NOT to use general anesthesia – the use of IV sedation without any paralytic agents or time on a respirator.
How to prevent pain post surgery – a) my use of nerve blocks on specific sensory nerves using a long-acting anesthetic agent, b) I also use an oral COX-2 inhibitor medication both pre- and post op. This combination has proven successful in keeping my patients pain-free and very comfortable post-op.
Fat injections
The difficult neck
Invisible incisions
Must have a natural appearance

I also discussed that face lifting should be done as a layered approach so the person’s unique facial shape can be carefully addressed and artistically improved.

Our presentation ended with a Q and A lead by J. William Little, MD.

My team and I attended additional interesting panels on Facial Rejuvenation.

After a quick lunch break, my team and I explored the exhibit floor together to see many new products and services available. We also talked with teams from NYU and the University of Pittsburg about additional collaboration on stem cells and advancing the care of plastic surgery patients.

Comedian Jay Leno performed at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel Grand Ballroom Monday night after the live silent auction in support of the Breast Reconstruction Awareness Fund.

In looking back at the past few days, it was a fun and very exciting time in Boston. It is aways such a pleasure to share our experience and teach plastic surgeons how to get better and more natural appearing results. My team and I are looking forward to the Plastic Surgery The Meeting 2016 next year in Los Angeles, California – September 23-September 26, 2016!