Surgical Procedures/Plastic Surgery

Plastic surgery

Introduction

A surgical treatment which is performed by authorized specialist.

• Basic goal of plastic surgery is to treat surgically by:
  • Correction of disfigurement.
  • Restoration of impaired function.
  • Improvement of physical appearance.

Generally the term plastic refers to the molding and reshaping of body tissues:

• Bone.
• Fat.
• Muscle.
• Cartilage.
• Skin.

Generally during Plastic Surgery:

• Tissue may be moved to fill a depression, to cover a wound, or to improve appearance.
• Tissue may be completely removed to alter the contours of a feature.

Cosmetic surgery and Plastic Surgery

Cosmetic surgery: Surgery performed solely to improve appearance in otherwise healthy persons. Plastic Surgery: Surgery performed solely to improve health in otherwise unhealthy person.

Benefits of plastic Surgery

• The correction of a perceived physical imperfection.
• Psychological benefits.

Common procedures

In plastic surgery the transfer of skin tissue (skin grafting) is one of the most common procedures. (Traditionally in surgery “Graft” is a piece of living tissue, organ, etc., transplanted surgically)

Grafts

• Autografts: Skin grafts taken from the recipient.
  • If absent or deficient of natural tissue, alternatives can be:
    • Cultured Sheets of epithelial cells in vitro.
    • Synthetic compounds (i.e. silicone).
• Allografts: Skin grafts taken from a donor of the same species.
• Xenografts: Skin grafts taken from a donor of a different species.

Micro Surgery

Extremely fine needles and sutures make it possible to rejoin small blood vessels and other minute structures under an operating microscope.

Common types and indications for plastic surgery

1. Reconstructive plastic surgery (treatment of defects resulting from trauma or disease).
2. Constructive plastic surgery (treatment of innate/inborn defects).
3. Anaplastic surgery (treatment of disfunction of appearance).

Reconstructive Plastic surgery

It is performed:

1. To correct severe functional impairments caused by:
   • Burns.
   • Traumatic injuries.
2. To correct acquired or congenital abnormalities, such as:
   • Cleft lip.
   • Cleft palate.
   • Facial bone fractures.
   • Tumours.
3. To compensate for tissue removed in:
   • Cancer or other surgery.
     • i.e Mastectomy.

Techniques used in plastic surgery

Among the techniques which are commonly used in plastic surgery are:

• Incision.
• Excision.
• Chemosurgery.
• Electrosurgery.
• Laser surgery.
• Dermabrasion.
• Liposuction.

Prognosis in plastic surgery

Usually, the good results are expected if plastic surgery is performed by:

• Careful planning of incisions so that they fall in the line of natural skin folds or lines.
• Appropriate choice of wound closure.
• Use of best available suture materials.
• Early removal of exposed sutures so that the wound is held closed by buried sutures.