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The opportunities and the development of minimally invasive treatments have led to a paradigm shift from „cosmetic surgery" to „aesthetic medicine". This development has made it possible to implement aesthetic treatments for a wide range of patients and to significantly increase the circle of possible medical and non-medical practitioners. The variety of different treatment options, the speed with which new ones are advertised, but also complex and difficult-to-understand modes of action pose a number of problems for both - patients and practitioners. This article is intended to provide an overview of proven and new treatment concepts in aesthetic medicine, in particular with regard to non-surgical, so-called „minimally-invasive" treatments to enable a structured entry into aesthetic medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:  The Allen test (AT) is a widely used clinical tool for the preoperative assessment of sufficient dual vessel hand perfusion although the impact of a pathological AT on tissue perfusion of the hand is not entirely clear. This study reveals perfusion changes of the hand in patients with pathological and physiological AT after terminating the dual blood supply., Methods:  Patients were distributed into 2 groups (physiological and pathological AT) that each contained 25 members. Perfusion of the thumb, middle, and small fingers was measured with a laser Doppler based ("oxygen-to-see" [O2C]) device. A steady state was measured and also values at 1, 3, 5, and 10 minutes after radial occlusion were measured., Results:  In patients with a physiological AT, only 1 out of 18 values differed significantly from the steady state measurements after 10 minutes, whereas patients with a pathological AT showed significant alterations in 8 out of 18 values. Oxygen saturation of the superficial and deep tissues appeared to be significantly worse in patients with a pathological AT., Conclusion:  Patients with a pathological AT suffered significantly more from the loss of dual hand perfusion than patients with a physiological AT. Patients with a pathological AT need more time to compensate for the altered perfusion pattern., Competing Interests: None declared., (Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.)