M. Miloro, A. Kolokythas (eds). Wiley-Blackwell price £117.00; pp 376 ISBN

9780813820521

Aimed at oral and maxillofacial surgeons, this text is the first to concentrate solely on the management of complications associated with head and neck surgical procedures. Assuming the readers have an advanced level of surgical knowledge allows the authors more scope to focus on the problems encountered. The editors are well-respected, with Antonia Kolokythas listed in the Dental Products Report's 'Top 25 women in dentistry 2012', whose interest lies with oral cancer research, whilst Michael Miloro's clinical profile includes bone grafting and microneurosurgery.

The first chapter highlights the importance of identifying patient risk, which will ultimately impact on treatment success. Complications associated with general anaesthesia are described and provide a useful reference to guide informed consent for many surgical procedures.

Whilst written primarily for specialists, chapters are applicable to others outside the field. 'Maxillofacial trauma' contains comprehensive information on mandibular fractures – a common presentation in accident and emergency, suitable for trainees. Chapter nine, entitled 'Cosmetic surgery', is useful for GDPs considering expanding their clinical repertoire to include facial aesthetics, as it describes the management of complications related to botox and injectable fillers.

The book fails to acknowledge the importance of collaboration between the maxillofacial surgeon and other members of the dental team, most notably in Chapter 12 entitled 'Lip cancer', where there is only brief reference to the dental implications associated with radiotherapy. There is opportunity to expand this text to include those complications, including mucositis, xerostomia and rampant caries, which can have devastating effects on the patient.

The modern text refers to new imaging techniques including three-dimensional cone beam computed tomography and computer-assisted surgery, for example in hard tissue reconstruction in Chapter 13, which can significantly reduce post-operative complications by simulating a surgical plan and fabricating a template to guide bone grafting.

I expect this will be a popular reference text for many oral and maxillofacial specialists. However, I feel it could benefit from further editing to break down the written content with more images and data reference boxes, thus appealing to a wider audience who have a particular interest in the topic.