Tag Archives: surgery

Plastic and orthopedic surgeons assist in Haitian earthquake relief

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doctorsOrganized by the British Association of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons in concert with Medical Emergency Response International, a team of surgical experts were deployed to Haiti following the earthquake which took place on January 12, 2010. The team was landed in country just three days after the catastrophe, and were performing limb-saving surgeries by the 20th of January.

A new report summarizing the successes of the operation, published in an industry magazine owned by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, has just been released.

The team of surgeons followed a combined orthopedic and plastic surgery approach to minimize the need for amputations and to help victims of the Haitian earthquake retain both form and function in severely injured limbs. With a primary focus on avoiding amputation, the team of five plastic surgeons, five orthopedic surgeons and five anesthetists performed three hundred and forty-eight surgeries in total. The surgeries were performed on just under one hundred and fifty patients who had sustained crush injuries or similar trauma from falling rubble and other accidents.

While the orthopedic surgeons repaired breaks, fractures and splinters of the bones, the plastic surgeons worked to reconstruct skin and underlying tissue while recovering vascular systems and effecting aesthetically correct bodily repairs. As the brunt of the Haitian catastrophe was weathered, the influx of patients with bone damage declined markedly. By the end of the relief operation, it was discerned that about three quarters of the surgeries had been primarily soft tissue reconstruction — work performed by plastic surgeons.

Many plastic surgeons expend their professional energies providing aesthetic embellishments like breast augmentations, face-lifts and tummy-tucks. The experience in Haiti, however, illustrates the critical role that those same surgeons can play in the recovery of normal bodily appearance and functionality. The ten week trip helped to avoid a huge quantity of amputations and massively improved the quality of life for nearly one hundred and fifty victims of the disaster.

“This experience shows that a favorable amputation rate can be achieved,” write the authors of the new report, “and the changes in work load over time demonstrate the benefit that an ortho-plastic limb salvage team can provide in the early stage of disaster relief.”

Resource Box:

Larry Schlesinger, M.D. is one of the plastic surgeons in Hawaii performing breast augmentation and breast implants in Honolulu – BREAST IMPLANTS HAWAII and BREAST AUGMENTATION HONOLULU.

Hawaii Breast Augmentation is performed at three offices on Maui, in Hilo-Kona, and in Honolulu. Dr. Larry Schlesinger has over 30 years of Plastic Surgery Honolulu experience in Hawaii and has completed over 18,300 successful surgical procedures. Contact us to get a free consultation!

Asian patients undergo surgery to acquire “Western” appeal

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surgeonThe motives to undergo plastic surgery may seem different from culture to culture at first glance, but they’re more similar than might be imagined.

According to a recent CNN report, affluent Asian patients are increasingly embracing plastic surgery to achieve a more “Western” appearance in the hopes of elevating their prospects. Many believe that a European look could help them to secure a more lucrative career and command more respect and notoriety from their professional peers.

While a variety of procedures can help Asian patients to achieve the look that they’re going for, the most commonly performed include nose reshaping, eyelid surgery, and facial contouring. Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is becoming an important destination for medical tourism — that is, the practice of visiting foreign countries for comparatively cost effective or high quality medical services. Dr. Kim Byung Gun, a surgeon working out of Seoul, says that nearly a third of his patients are foreigners. Of that third, nine out of ten are Chinese.

“They can find a much better job,” says Dr. Kim Byung Gun, “if they have a pretty face.”

While the sentiment that good looks bring prosperity may seem frank and vulgar at face value, the fact is that beauty does count for something in personal and professional realms alike. In the West as in the East, many people pursue plastic surgery with hopes of restoring their youth, the charisma of their beauty, and their confidence in themselves.

Jang Hyu Hye, a woman whose interview was included in CNN’s recent report, agrees that good looks can help to open doors. That’s one of the reasons why she’s paying for her daughter’s eyelid surgery.

“Yes, I think it’ll help her,” she says of her daughter’s upcoming procedure. “This is a society where you have to be pretty to get ahead. She’s my only daughter.”

Resource Box:

Larry Schlesinger, M.D. is one of the plastic surgeons in Hawaii performing breast augmentation and breast implants in Honolulu – BREAST IMPLANTS HAWAII and BREAST AUGMENTATION HONOLULU.

Hawaii Breast Augmentation is performed at three offices on Maui, in Hilo-Kona, and in Honolulu. Dr. Larry Schlesinger has over 30 years of Plastic Surgery Honolulu experience in Hawaii and has completed over 18,300 successful surgical procedures. Contact us to get a free consultation!