Advances and Refinements in Asian Aesthetic Surgery

As the Editor of the first-ever comprehensive textbook on Asian aesthetic surgery, entitled “Aesthetic Plastic Surgery in Asians: Principles and Techniques,” and as the Associate Editor of the Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the official journal of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), I have witnessed the fast development of Asian aesthetic surgery from its infancy to the current state. It is one of the fastest growing subspecialties in aesthetic plastic surgery. The unique features of anatomy in Asian patients along with their cultural background and sense of beauty and different expectations after aesthetic surgery may stand alone and deserve attention in our specialty worldwide. For the last two decades, the scope of Asian aesthetic surgery has expanded from double eyelid surgery and nasal dorsal augmentation to facial rejuvenation, breast enhancement, body contouring including gluteal augmentation, and even gynecologic cosmetic procedures. Worldwide aesthetic plastic surgeons are eager to learn the common aesthetic surgical techniques for their Asian patients. Furthermore, they also want to learn more advanced or refined techniques in Asian aesthetic surgery.

Because there is an urgent need to publish updated techniques in Asian aesthetic surgery, I have accepted another invitation from the publisher of Clinics in Plastic Surgery to publish a special issue that focuses on advances and refinements in Asian aesthetic surgery. With my strong connection with the entire membership of the World Association for Plastic Surgeons of Chinese Descent (WAPSCD), I had decided to put such an issue together by inviting many excellent aesthetic plastic surgeons together from Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States. Therefore, this special issue itself not only covers traditional topics of Asian aesthetic surgery, such as double eyelid procedure and nasal dorsal augmentation, but also includes many new contents, such as minimally invasive procedures for facial rejuvenation, periorbital rejuvenation, aesthetic facial skeleton contouring procedures, aesthetic breast surgery, abdominoplasty, gluteal augmentation, and vaginal rejuvenation. All invited authors are well-known in their home country or region, and some of them are quite active in both ISAPS and WAPSCD as a teaching faculty for international aesthetic education. Several unique Asian aesthetic surgical procedures are first presented in English literature by those aesthetic plastic surgeons who have not had an opportunity to publish their excellent works.

In this a twenty-article issue, the first seven articles focus on facial rejuvenation. Two articles focus on Botox and fillers for facial rejuvenation and contouring, and this is followed by a fat-grafting article for facial rejuvenation and contouring. One article focuses on facial rejuvenation with fast recovery suspension technique, and another focuses on radiofrequency-assisted procedures for facial rejuvenation and contouring. One article focuses on an endoscopically assisted procedure for facial rejuvenation that can be a preferred technique for many Asian patients. One unique article focuses on facial rejuvenation with open techniques after previous filler injections. There are two articles on facial bone modifications. One article from the renowned Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital focuses on current practices for aesthetic facial skeletal contouring surgery, and another article from the renowned Chang Gung Memorial Hospital describes orthognathic surgery for improvement of the smile. One popular article introduces common techniques for periorbital rejuvenation in Asians. Three articles primarily describe advanced techniques in Asian upper blepharoplasty, revision of Asian upper blepharoplasty, and refined techniques in Asian lower blepharoplasty. There are two articles on Asian rhinoplasty; one focuses on primary rhinoplasty and the other focuses on revision of Asian rhinoplasty. Two articles on the breast represent some unique features of Asian aesthetic breast surgery. One article introduces advanced techniques of endoscopic-assisted transaxillary breast augmentation, and the other describes primary breast augmentation with fat grafting. The last three articles focus on the current trend and fast development in Asian body-contouring procedures as well as gynecologic cosmetic procedures. One article focuses on endoscopically assisted abdominoplasty, and another article focuses on gluteal augmentation with fat grafting. The last article focuses on vaginal rejuvenation with a relatively simple approach.

I believe this twenty-article issue covers almost the entire spectrum of Asian aesthetic surgery. It represents the recent advances and refinements of many aesthetic surgical procedures for Asians. With tireless efforts from all the authors, the current issue represents an excellent summary of advances and refinements in Asian aesthetic surgery.

As guest editor, I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading this special issue of Clinics in Plastic Surgery and find it useful for your busy practice. It represents a true team effort from many world-renowned expert surgeons from the membership of WAPSCD. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all contributors for their expertise, dedication, and responsibility to produce such a world-class issue of plastic surgery focusing on Asian aesthetic surgery. It is certainly my privilege to work with these respected authors in this special subspecialty of plastic surgery. Last, I would also like to express my special appreciation to the publication team of Elsevier, who put this remarkable issue together with the highest possible standard.