Background: YouTube is the most accessed video website in the world. It hosts a variety of medical content. Plastic surgery-related content on YouTube has not been investigated before. In this study, we analyzed the most prevalent plastic surgery-related content available on YouTube. Methods: Search terms were selected to cover the broad topics of plastic surgery. The top 20 most-viewed videos returned for each search term were analyzed. The videos were classified by the type of content, authorship, number of views, and number of likes. Data were collected and analyzed using Microsoft Excel (2016) program. Results: Out of the 280 videos analyzed, “patient experience” was the most prevalent content type. Thirty percent of the analyzed videos were uploaded by medical centers, and 29% were uploaded from personal accounts. Educational video content constituted 6% of the total videos analyzed. Entertainment was the most prevalent (60%) content type returned when “plastic surgery” was used as the search term. Conclusions: YouTube is an underutilized social media platform by plastic surgeons. The entertainment industry is taking advantage of the social media platform to attract and gain millions of views. Educational videos are low in number and quality.

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Burns are potentially catastrophic injuries that disproportionately affect non-Western countries. We summarize results on the epidemiology of burn injuries in Saudi Arabia of all eligible papers through 2019, specifically evaluating the age and gender of patients, the location and mechanism of injury, burn size and severity, and outcomes. Between July 5 and July 10, 2019, a comprehensive literature review was performed on MEDLINE, EMBASE, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane Library. For this search, “Saudi Arabia,” coupled with the search terms “burn,” “thermal burn,” “flame burn,” “chemical burn,” “electrical burn,” and “contact burn” to identify all abstracts potentially relating to the topic of interest. Eleven studies, encompassing 3308 patients, met eligibility criteria. Younger children (variably defined as ≤10–12) accounted for 52% of all burns. Males outnumbered females by an overall ratio of 1.42:1. About 83% of burns occurred at homes. Scald injuries accounted for 62.4% of injuries, followed by flame-induced burns (28.7%), electrical burns (3.3%), and chemical burns (2.8%). Pertaining to burn extent and severity, 80% to 100% of the burns were limited to <40% total body surface area, while roughly 60% were second-degree burns. Most patients remain in the hospital for 1 to 4 weeks. The overall mortality across studies including patients of all ages was 6.9%, while just 0.76% in the two studies restricted to pediatric patients. Scald injuries involving young children comprise the lion’s share of burn injuries in Saudi Arabia. Increased public awareness is necessary to reduce the incidence and severity of these potentially catastrophic injuries.

Background: In the last 5 years, many universities and medical centers have contributed immensely to medical research in Saudi Arabia. The aim of this study is to review the publications in the last 5 years in the field of plastic and reconstructive surgery from Saudi Arabia. Methods: An electronic search was carried out using PubMed website for all plastic and reconstructive surgery-related articles published from Saudi Arabia. The type, subject, region, institute, and subspecialty were collected from the articles. Results: A total of 142 articles were found, of which 45 were case reports (31.9%). The highest number of publications was 35 papers in 2018. Most of the papers were published from King Saud University (59.6%). A total of 123 articles (87.2%) were published from the central region of the kingdom. Hand surgery was the most common published topic, with 60 articles (43%). Conclusions: We concluded that there is an increase in the number of publications in the recent 5 years. However, most of these publications are case reports and series, which are low-quality researches in the era of evidence-based medicine.

Summary:Rhinoplasty is one of the most common cosmetic procedures performed by plastic surgeons worldwide. It is among the top 5 common aesthetic procedures in the United States. The complications rate in rhinoplasty is 8–15%, and a majority of these complications are not life-threatening. One of the rare complications reported is skin necrosis. In our article, we report 2 cases that developed skin necrosis on the nasal dorsum following rhinoplasty.

Background: Securing a plastic surgery position is a demanding task for students. Although many papers have been published internationally discussing the traits and features deemed important from the point of view of plastic surgery program directors, a gap exists in the literature where this aspect is not covered in Saudi Arabia. The aim of this study was to fill this gap. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a survey was developed targeting all current and former Saudi plastic surgery training program directors. SPSS was used to calculate frequencies and present percentages; independent t -test was done to look for mean differences. Ethical approval was obtained from a local institution. Results: All current and former Saudi plastic surgery program directors participated ( n = 17), including the 8 (47.1%) current directors. When asked to rank 7 items on a scale of importance, they scored a mean of 6.2, 5.8, 5.4, 4.88, 4.82, 4.6, and 3.7 for good impression on interviews, prior experience, research experience, the grade point average (GPA), oral or poster presentations on events, the Saudi Medical Licensing Examination (SMLE), and attaining a post-graduate degree, respectively. The majority [ n = 7 (41%)] considers the mode of communication, such as phone calls, as the most important aspect in recommendations. They prefer candidates who took electives/rotations at their department [ n = 12 (71%)] and give more value to high-quality publications [ n = 9 (47%)]. Applicant’s gender was not important. Conclusion: With early planning, this article could serve as a guide for medical students interested in plastic surgery to build their assets toward a successful interview.

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Background: Hirsch-index (or h-index ) is a bibliometric measure calculated for researchers based on number of publications and their citations. This study examined the h-index of board-certified plastic surgeons in Saudi Arabia and the different factors that may influence it. Method: In this cross-sectional study, an electronic questionnaire was sent to 156 board-certified plastic surgeons practicing in Saudi Arabia. Using their names, we conducted an online search on Scopus, Semantic scholar, and Google scholar to calculate their h-index . Bivariate and multiple regression analyses were conducted to determine the relationship of those factors with the index. Results: A total of 84 surgeons participated in this study, of whom 83.3% were men. Our sample scored a mean index of 1.7 and published a mean of 5 articles. More publications and a higher academic rank predicted a higher h-index , ( β = 0.79, P < 0.001) and ( β = 0.14, P 0.017), respectively. On the other end of the spectrum, the country of residency training ( P 0.33), the year of training completion ( P 0.95), attaining fellowship training ( P 0.95), the number of fellowships ( P 0.20), interest in research ( P 0.74), working in an academic hospital ( P 0.44), or attaining a higher degree ( P 0.61) were not significant independent predictors of the index. Conclusions: More publications and a higher rank predicted increased academic productivity among the plastic surgeons in Saudi Arabia. Despite its limitations, h-index is a useful measure that can be considered in promotions and applications to prestigious plastic surgery centers in adjunct to other factors.