plastic surgery

plastic surgery
plastic surgeon.
the branch of surgery dealing with the repair or replacement of malformed, injured, or lost organs or tissues of the body, chiefly by the transplant of living tissues.
[1830-40]

* * *

Surgery to correct disfigurement, restore function, or improve appearance.

It may involve reshaping or moving tissues to fill a depression, cover a wound, or improve appearance. Cosmetic surgery solely to improve appearance is not the main focus of plastic surgery. It is utilized after disfigurement by burns or tumour removal or for reconstructive work, and it may involve hiding incisions in skin folds or using buried sutures to hold wounds closed. Reconstructive plastic surgery corrects severe functional impairments, fixes physical abnormalities, and compensates for tissue lost to trauma or surgery. Microsurgery and computerized diagnostic imaging techniques have revolutionized the field.

* * *

      surgical specialty concerned with the correction of disfigurement, restoration of impaired function, and improvement of physical appearance. It is largely concerned with the bodily surface and with reconstructive work of the face and exposed parts. Although surgical reconstruction of the nose was performed by Hindu physicians before the time of Christ, modern techniques of plastic surgery were originated in the post-World War I years by surgeons repairing the wounds and disfigurements of combat veterans.

      The term plastic refers to the molding and reshaping of body tissues—bone, fat, muscle, cartilage, and skin. Tissue may be moved to fill a depression, to cover a wound, or to improve appearance. The transfer of skin tissue (skin grafting (skin graft)) is one of the most common procedures performed in plastic surgery. Skin grafts may be taken from the recipient (autografts), from a donor of the same species (allografts), or from a donor of a different species (xenografts). Sheets of epithelial cells cultured in vitro and synthetic compounds such as silicone are also used as a substitute for absent or deficient natural tissue. Tissue may be completely removed to alter the contours of a feature, as in rhinoplasty (reconstruction of the nose), otoplasty (ear reduction), and blepharoplasty (the removal of skin and fatty tissue from the eyelids), or to restore youthful appearance, as in rhytidectomy (face-lift, in which excess skin is removed from the face and neck).

      Plastic surgery is sometimes considered, incorrectly, to be synonymous with aesthetic, or cosmetic, surgery—that is, surgery performed solely to improve appearance in otherwise healthy persons. Into this classification fall the majority of cases of rhinoplasty, rhytidectomy, breast augmentation, hair transplantation, and other procedures. The aesthetic element of most plastic surgery, however, is directed at improving physical appearance after disfigurement caused by burns, removal of tumours, and reconstructive work. The correction of a perceived physical imperfection for its own sake, while valuable for the psychological benefits it imparts to an individual, is not the main focus of most plastic surgery.

      The essence of technical plastic surgery lies in the careful planning of incisions so that they fall in the line of natural skin folds or lines and in the appropriate choice of wound closure, emphasizing the use of fine suture material and the early removal of exposed sutures so that the wound is held closed by buried sutures. Among the techniques used in plastic surgery are incision, excision, chemosurgery, electrosurgery, laser surgery, dermabrasion, and liposuction.

      Reconstructive plastic surgery is performed to correct severe functional impairments caused by burns and other traumatic injuries; to correct acquired or congenital abnormalities, such as cleft lip and cleft palate, facial bone fractures, and tumours; and to compensate for tissue removed in cancer or other surgery, including reconstruction of the breast following mastectomy. The development of microsurgery in the 1960s and '70s greatly expanded the scope of reconstructive surgery, allowing surgeons to reattach severed fingers and limbs. Exceedingly fine needles and sutures make it possible for the surgeon to rejoin small blood vessels and other minute structures under an operating microscope. Combinations of bone, muscle, and skin tissue, known as free flaps, that previously had to be shifted gradually from remote sites can now be transplanted in a single procedure, greatly increasing the number of defects that can be corrected. The size and thickness of such flaps and the placement of their attendant structures and vessels can even be customized to fit the requirements of the recipient site. Magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography (computerized axial tomography), and other computerized imaging techniques have also revolutionized the field, vastly improving surgeons' abilities to analyze deformities and to plan and visualize complex reconstructions.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Plastic surgery — Plastic surgeon Occupation Names Doctor, Medical Specialist Activity sectors Surgery Description Education required MD or MBBS or DO US[1] Plastic surgery is a …   Wikipedia

  • Plastic surgery — Plastic Plas tic (pl[a^]s t[i^]k), a. [L. plasticus, Gr. ?, fr. ? to form, mold: cf. F. plastique.] 1. Having the power to give form or fashion to a mass of matter; as, the plastic hand of the Creator. Prior. [1913 Webster] See plastic Nature… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • plastic surgery — n. surgery dealing with the repair or restoration of injured, deformed, or destroyed parts of the body, esp. by transferring tissue, as skin or bone, from other parts or from another individual plastic surgeon n …   English World dictionary

  • plastic surgery — [n] cosmetic surgery blepharoplasty, breast implant, breast reduction, collagen injections, dermabrasion, dermatoplasty, eyelift, face lift, face lifting, liposuction, mammaplasty, mammoplasty, nose job, reconstructive surgery, rhinoplasty, skin… …   New thesaurus

  • plastic surgery — n [U] the medical practice of changing the appearance of people s faces or bodies, either to improve their appearance or to repair injuries >.plastic surgeon n …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • plastic surgery — noun uncount medical operations to improve the appearance of a part of someone s body, either to repair an injury or to make them more attractive ─ compare COSMETIC SURGERY …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • plastic surgery — ► NOUN ▪ the reconstruction or repair of parts of the body by the transfer of tissue, either in the treatment of injury or for cosmetic reasons …   English terms dictionary

  • Plastic surgery — The field of surgery concerned with reducing scarring or disfigurement that may occur as a result of accidents, birth defects, or treatment for diseases, such as melanoma. Many plastic surgeons also perform cosmetic surgery that is unrelated to… …   Medical dictionary

  • plastic surgery — noun surgery concerned with therapeutic or cosmetic reformation of tissue • Syn: ↑reconstructive surgery, ↑anaplasty • Hypernyms: ↑operation, ↑surgery, ↑surgical operation, ↑surgical procedure, ↑surgical p …   Useful english dictionary

  • plastic surgery — a branch of surgery dealing with the reconstruction of deformed or damaged parts of the body. It also includes the replacement of parts of the body that have been lost. If performed simply to improve appearances plastic surgery is called cosmetic …   The new mediacal dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”