Plastic Reconstruction Surgery

Reconstructive plastic surgery is performed to correct functional impairments caused by burns; traumatic injuries, such as facial bone fractures and breaks; congenital abnormalities, such as cleft palates or cleft lips; developmental abnormalities; infection and disease; and cancer or tumors.

Plastic and Reconstructive:

Modern surgery has developed to such an extent that the body of knowledge and technical skills required have led to surgeons specialising in particular areas, usually an anatomical area of the body or occasionally in a particular technique or type of patient.

What do plastic surgeons do?

Plastic surgery has two main components: reconstructive plastic surgery which is all about restoring function and appearance to the human body after illness or accident and aesthetic (often called “cosmetic”) plastic surgery, which is primarily to change the appearance from choice. Unlike most surgical specialties that are defined by an anatomical area, plastic surgery is defined by the surgical techniques that are carried out.

Reconstructive procedures are the mainstay of nearly all plastic surgeons’ work: covering all aspects of wound healing and reconstruction after congenital, acquired and traumatic problems, with aesthetic surgery playing a smaller but important part in their working week.

The principle subspecialties of plastic surgery:

Plastic surgeons nearly all subspecialise while providing a more general service to a large population. Among the most common specialisms are:

Congenital treatments for conditions like cleft lip and palate, facial and ear deformities and craniofacial defects, hypospadias or other genito-urinary anomalies, upper limb anomalies and congenital skin conditions.

Breast surgery reconstruction following cancer, congenital anomalies, cosmetic breast surgery Skin – excision and reconstruction or benign and malignant; management of skin cancer metastases in lymph glands and elsewhere.

Trauma reconstructive repair of facial trauma; lower limb trauma including open fractures and burn injury.

Cancer removal of malignant tumours and benign lesions of skin; breast reconstruction following cancer treatments; treatment of and reconstruction after others, such as sarcoma, “head and neck” cancer, perineal cancers./p>

Hand and upper limb surgery specialist treatment for a particularly complicated body area where function is vital for quality of life. Dealing with congenital hand abnormalities; repair of injuries to the hand and upper limb and treatment of degenerative hand disease.

Aesthetic surgery often called “cosmetic surgery” the changing of appearance by choice and not for the treatment of disease. Although not usually available on the NHS, aesthetic surgical principles inform the reconstructive work that plastic surgeons do and so there are important links between reconstructive and aesthetic procedures.