Plastic Surgery

During the past decade, the specialty of plastic surgery has contributed to notable advances in microsurgery, craniofacial surgery, hand surgery, and other difficult reconstructive problems. Important contributions have also been made in the design and use of musculocutaneous flaps and to pioneering efforts in breast reconstruction for mastectomy patients. Emphasis is also being directed to the contralateral breast because of its recognized premalignant potential.

Microsurgery  With the advent of small-vessel anastomosis in the 1960s, it became possible to anastomose vessels as narrow as 1.0 mm in external diameter, with predictable patency rates. Reports soon appeared in the world literature describing the successful replantation of digits and even entire limbs. Many investigators were encouraged to review the physiology of the microcirculation and to investigate factors that influenced the viability of transferred tissue.Successful replantation efforts permitted innovative surgeons to review existing methods of reconstruction and to recognize their limitations. In 1972