Craniomaxillofacial Trauma: State of the Art

We thank Seminars in Plastic Surgery for the opportunity to create an issue devoted entirely to the treatment of facial trauma. This field has expanded remarkably in the past 20 years and continues to do so with advances in both technique and technology. For this issue, we focus on areas that have long been problematic for the clinician.

We include an excellent contribution from Dr. Edward Ellis on the appropriate selection of fixation for mandible fractures that we feel will be of substantial help to clinicians. Articles on the choice of lower eyelid incision used for fracture exposure, the management of frontal sinus trauma, and airway management should also prove useful. To address recent advances in technology, we have solicited contributions on new developments in plate and screw design and on the endoscopic management of both condylar and orbital injuries. Finally, we include a superb study evaluating changes in the demographics of facial trauma based on one of the largest databases of its kind.

We express our appreciation to the authors for their contributions to this issue, which will be a substantial contribution to the growing literature on the management of facial injuries.