The plastic surgery is that branch of surgery that deals with rebuild various types of fabrics , such as the skin, and muscles of the human body and / or correct the deformity their dependents both from a functional and aesthetic point of view. The primary purpose of plastic surgery is to remedy defects present from birth (congenital) or caused by surgery, disease, trauma or injury ( acquired ). In this way, the restoration of the function of the tissues takes place as close as possible to the norm.
Plastic surgery is divided into two broad branches :
- the reconstructive surgery – which deals with the scope of the functional tissue reconstruction and correction of deformities
- the cosmetic surgery – which deals more properly aesthetic scope of the reconstruction of tissues and deformity correction and usually takes care of minor cases.
What does the plastic surgeon do?
The plastic surgeon is a specialist who takes care of diagnosing and intervening for the treatment of all the pathological conditions that are pertinent to this branch of medicine.
The pathologies most frequently treated by the plastic surgeon are:
- cleft lip
- cleft palate
- webbed fingers
- other abnormalities caused by birth defects
- breast reconstruction after mastectomies and / or quadrantectomy
- neoplasms of the face
- skin neoplasms
- tissue damage caused by demolition surgery
- severe burns ;
- trauma (facial fractures, bruised tears)
What are the procedures most used by the plastic surgeon?
Depending on the conditions to be treated, the plastic surgeon can resort to various procedures. The most frequently used techniques consist of grafts, flaps and implants:
- the grafts are portions of tissue that are taken from a certain area of the patient’s body (for example from the leg) to be implanted in another area of the body, called the “receiving area” (for example the face);
- the flaps are parts of tissue that maintain a connection (called “peduncle”) with the donor area and that are transferred to the recipient area which is necessarily adjacent to the donor area;
- the plants are used for different purposes, usually for the filling or correction of congenital or acquired deformities . Among the most well-known implants there are breast implants , but there are similar materials for calves, buttocks, cheekbones and scalp. Finally, there are external prostheses for the replacement of organ parts: the best known are those for the nose and ear.
When to ask for an appointment with the plastic surgeon?
An appointment with the plastic surgeon must be requested in all those cases in which it is necessary to repair defects present from birth (congenital) or caused by trauma, injuries or previous surgical operations ( acquired ), or when there is a need to monitor the post- operative.
