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Surgical Procedures/Plastic Surgery

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Plastic surgery

Introduction

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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

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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

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

Common procedures

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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

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  • 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

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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

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  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

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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 tisue removed in:
    • Cancer or other surgery.
      • i.e Mastectomy.

Techniques used in plastic surgery

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

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

Prognosis in plastic surgery

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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.