Plastic surgery

Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction, or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two categories. The first is reconstructive surgery which includes craniofacial surgery, hand surgery, microsurgery, and the treatment of burns. The other is cosmetic or aesthetic surgery. While reconstructive surgery aims to reconstruct a part of the body or improve its functioning, cosmetic surgery aims at improving the appearance of it. Both of these techniques are used throughout the world. Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction, or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two categories. The first is reconstructive surgery which includes craniofacial surgery, hand surgery, microsurgery, and the treatment of burns. The other is cosmetic or aesthetic surgery. While reconstructive surgery aims to reconstruct a part of the body or improve its functioning, cosmetic surgery aims at improving the appearance of it. Both of these techniques are used throughout the world. In the term 'plastic surgery,' the adjective plastic implies sculpting and/or reshaping, which is derived from the Greek πλαστική (τέχνη), plastikē (tekhnē), 'the art of modelling' of malleable flesh. This meaning in English is seen as early as 1598. The surgical definition of 'plastic' first appeared in 1839, preceding the modern 'engineering material made from petroleum' sense of plastic (coined by Leo Baekeland in 1909) by 70 years. The current semantic diversity of the word plastic has a long history of development. Essentially, there are two ways of using this term. In its original sense plastic relates to formation or shaping of matter, i.e. to plastic art. Plastic can also be used figuratively in the meaning of formation of non-material things (e.g. writing a poem, creating a piece of music, and so on), i.e. in the meaning of the power to create. Both notions have been around for thousands of years. The origin of the dual history of the materialistic and philosophical use of plastic can be traced back to the ancient Greek craft of pottery and mythology, respectively. Wider textual use of the term plastic began with Pliny the Elder’s (23 – 79 AD) Plastice, a chapter in his Natural History. The semantic flourish of plastic started only at the end of the 18th century when Johann Gottfried Herder introduced the concept of “plastic sense” in his aesthetic essay Plastik (Sculpture) of 1778. Treatments for the plastic repair of a broken nose are first mentioned in the Edwin Smith Papyrus, a transcription of an Ancient Egyptian medical text, one of the oldest known surgical treatises, dated to the Old Kingdom from 3000 to 2500 BC. Reconstructive surgery techniques were being carried out in India by 800 BC. Sushruta was a physician who made important contributions to the field of plastic and cataract surgery in 6th century BC. The medical works of both Sushruta and Charaka, originally in Sanskrit, were translated into the Arabic language during the Abbasid Caliphate in 750 AD. The Arabic translations made their way into Europe via intermediaries. In Italy, the Branca family of Sicily and Gaspare Tagliacozzi (Bologna) became familiar with the techniques of Sushruta. British physicians traveled to India to see rhinoplasties being performed by Indian methods. Reports on Indian rhinoplasty performed by a Kumhar Vaidya were published in the Gentleman's Magazine by 1794. Joseph Constantine Carpue spent 20 years in India studying local plastic surgery methods. Carpue was able to perform the first major surgery in the Western world in the year of 1815. Instruments described in the Sushruta Samhita were further modified in the Western world. The Romans also performed plastic cosmetic surgery. The Romans were able to perform simple techniques, such as repairing damaged ears, from around the 1st century BC. For religious reasons, they did not dissect either human beings or animals, thus their knowledge was based in its entirety on the texts of their Greek predecessors. Notwithstanding, Aulus Cornelius Celsus left some surprisingly accurate anatomical descriptions, some of which — for instance, his studies on the genitalia and the skeleton — are of special interest to plastic surgery. In 1465, Sabuncu's book, description, and classification of hypospadias was more informative and up to date. Localization of urethral meatus was described in detail. Sabuncuoglu also detailed the description and classification of ambiguous genitalia. In mid-15th-century Europe, Heinrich von Pfolspeundt described a process 'to make a new nose for one who lacks it entirely, and the dogs have devoured it' by removing skin from the back of the arm and suturing it in place. However, because of the dangers associated with surgery in any form, especially that involving the head or face, it was not until the 19th and 20th centuries that such surgery became common. Up until the use of anesthesia became established, surgeries involving healthy tissues involved great pain. Infection from surgery was reduced by the introduction of sterile techniques and disinfectants. The invention and use of antibiotics, beginning with sulfonamide and penicillin, was another step in making elective surgery possible. In 1793, François Chopart performed operative procedure on a lip using a flap from the neck. In 1814, Joseph Carpue successfully performed operative procedure on a British military officer who had lost his nose to the toxic effects of mercury treatments. In 1818, German surgeon Carl Ferdinand von Graefe published his major work entitled Rhinoplastik. Von Graefe modified the Italian method using a free skin graft from the arm instead of the original delayed pedicle flap.