What is plastic surgery?

 The word "plastic" in "plastic surgery" is derived from the ancient Greek word "plastikos," which means “to mold” or “give form”. Plastic surgery is that  branch of surgery which reconstructs and improves the appearance and functions of the body.

There are two principal areas of plastic surgery.

• Reconstructive surgery, including microsurgery, focuses on undoing or masking the destructive effects of trauma, surgery or disease. Reconstructive surgery may include closing defects with flaps – that is, by moving tissue from other parts of the body.
• Cosmetic (or aesthetic) surgery is most often performed in order to change features the patient finds unflattering. In many cases, however, there are medical reasons (for example, breast reduction when orthopaedic problems are present).

The history of plastic surgery spans back to the ancient world. In fact, written evidence cites medical treatment for facial injuries more than 4,000 years ago.  The Romans were able to perform simple techniques such as repairing damaged ears. Physicians in ancient India including the great Indian surgeon Sushruta were utilizing skin grafts for reconstructive work as early as 800 B.C and performed nose reconstruction, using a portion of the forehead, during periods when amputation of the nose was a punishment for certain crimes.

Reconstructive surgical techniques developed rapidly in the period after the First World War when patients with survivable but disfiguring injuries required new approaches. Ultimately, plastic surgeons have championed the use of microsurgical techniques to transfer remote tissue. For the past several decades they have been able to connect blood vessels that may be as small as 1-2mm in diameter to reperfuse the transferred tissue, thereby allowing coverage of a soft tissue defect when no local tissue is available.