title: Complications of patient selection: recognizing the difficult patient.
abstract: This article reviews some basic principles of patient selection for facial plastic surgery. There are patients who are not good candidates, independent of the deformity and the ability of the surgeon. Reasons include subtle and not so subtle psychiatric disorders, unrealistic expectations, lack of communication despite multiple visits, and litigious patients. Complications or suboptimal results are not well handled in these patients and often produce an uncomfortable experience for the surgeon and staff in the postoperative period. These patients are best avoided or should be provided a much longer evaluation period prior to any surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford Medical Center, 801 Welch Road, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. Electronic address: goode@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Goode
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D018579:Patient Selection; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000523:psychology*; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D016079:Refusal to Treat
keywords: Facial plastic surgery candidates; Patient selection; Unhappy patient