Reconstructive microvascular surgery is now in its teens. At first many thought this new child was a whim and would fail to thrive. Some were un certain, others with vision either supported or became actively involved in this new area of surgical endeavour. Although initial interest was focused on the replantation of amputated parts, it has been the one stage free trans fer of living tissue to a distant site which has launched microsurgery into the surgical spotlight. From its humble beginnings we have witnessed a revolution in this branch of plastic surgery; many of the long established methods of recon struction have, like barricades, fallen before the advances made in this field. In its infancy there were relatively few procedures available. There was a tendency to make the patient's problem fit the operation, rather than the reverse, and this frequently led to an inferior result. The then known flaps, such as the groin flap and the deltopectoral flap, were employed. Unfortunately they were sites which posed many technical problems; namely those of vascular anomaly, a short pedicle and vessels of small cal ibre. Long operations were the norm, and vascular thrombosis was not un common. Hospital routine often was disrupted and there was a danger that these new techniques would fall into disrepute. Over the last decade this state of affairs has changed dramatically.

Die Mikrogefasschirurgie spielt bei Gewebetransplantationen eine immer groessere Rolle. Dieses Buch ist ein "Gewusst-wie"-Text uber die mikrovaskulare Rekonstruktionschirurgie, das vorwiegend von einem einzelnen Chirurgen geschrieben wurde. Es richtet sich sowohl an den erfahrenen als auch an den noch in der Ausbildung befindlichen Chirurgen. Das Buch ist in zwei Abschnitte gegliedert. Der erste beschreibt die operative Anatomie und Technik, die mit der Hebung jedes freien Gewebetransfers verbunden ist. Der zweite Teil behandelt die Anwendung dieser Transplantate fur die Rekonstruktion in drei anatomischen Regionen, in denen die rekonstruktive Mikrochirurgie bedeutende Ergebnisse geliefert hat: Kopf, Hals sowie obere und untere Extremitat. Das Buch ist ein aktuelles Nachschlagewerk fur jeden auf diesem Gebiet arbeitenden Chirurgen, Orthopaden und Traumatologen.