Last Updated on April 8, 2019
Surgical specialty or the surgical procedure that carries repair or reconstruction of lost, injured or deformed parts of the body chiefly by
The scope of plastic surgery is quite wide and the spectrum involves a lot of procedures. Following is an incomplete list.
- Breast Reconstruction
- Burn Repair Surgery
- Congenital Defect Repair
- Cleft Palate
- Extremity Defect Repair
- Lower Extremity Reconstruction
- Hand Surgery
- Scar Revision Surgery
- Craniofacial procedures
The plastic surgery is named so after the Greek word plastikos (that may be moulded).
The two fundamental methods by which tissues are moved are grafts or flaps. A graft is a piece of tissue that is moved without its blood supply and relies on its recipient bed to reestablish a blood supply. A flap is a piece of tissue that is moved maintaining its blood supply and is not reliant on the recipient site for its vascularity.
The basic goal in defect repair or reconstruction surgery is to achieve primary healing so that the adverse consequences of healing by second intention in terms of delay and poor function can be avoided..
For that the priorities in plastic surgery are first healing, then function and lastly appearance [cosmesis].
A special sub-specialty of plastic surgery is cosmetic surgery which is involved in procedures concerned with enhancement of the appearance. Rhinoplasty for a better looking nose is an example of such procedure.
Reconstructive procedures correct defects on the face or body. These include physical birth defects or burns etc. The subspecialties that deal in reconstructive surgery craniofacial surgery, hand surgery, microsurgery, and the treatment of burns etc.
Cosmetic or aesthetic procedures alter a part of the body that the person is not satisfied with. Common cosmetic procedures include making the breasts larger or smaller etc.
Some people turn to plastic surgery to correct a physical defect or to alter a part of the body that they are not satisfied with.
The scope of cosmetic surgery procedures includes:
- Breast Enhancement: Augmentation, Lift, Reduction
- Facial Contouring: Rhinoplasty, Chin, or Cheek Enhancement
- Facial Rejuvenation: Facelift, Eyelid Lift, Neck Lift, Brow Lift
- Body Contouring: Tummy Tuck, Liposuction, Gynecomastia Treatment
- Skin Rejuvenation: Laser Resurfacing, Botox, Filler Treatments
History of Plastic Surgery
[Abridged from Wikipedia]
Reconstructive surgery techniques were being carried out in India by 800 BC.
The literature found its way to Europe via Arab. British physicians also traveled to India to see rhinoplasties.
Carpue was able to perform the first major surgery in the Western world by 1815.
The Roman scholar Aulus Cornelius Celsus recorded surgical techniques, including plastic surgery, in the first century AD.
The Romans also performed plastic cosmetic surgery.
In 1793, Francois Chopart performed operative procedure on a lip using a flap from the neck.
The first American plastic surgeon was John Peter Mettauer, who, in 1827, performed the first cleft palate operation with instruments that he designed himself.
The father of modern plastic surgery is generally considered to have been Sir Harold Gillies.
In 1930, Gillies’ cousin, Archibald McIndoe, was also quite committed to plastic surgery.
Much progress in the field was made during the wars.
As the modern surgical art and science made progress, further specialities were created.
Sub-specialties of Plastic Surgery
- Aesthetic surgery Cosmetic Surgery
- Burn surgery
- Craniofacial surgery
- Hand surgery
- Microsurgery
- Pediatric plastic surgery