Introduction:
Not all cosmetic procedures are superficial. After an injury or illness, plastic surgery can often assist in restoring vital functions. Children's congenital disabilities, or those that have existed since birth, and acquired functional and aesthetic issues, are treated by plastic and reconstructive surgeons. Pediatric plastic surgery aims to enhance form, function, and appearance. Although the journey may seem frightening, one will have a group of caring specialists experienced in treating children.
What Is Pediatric Plastic Surgery?
Plastic surgery on children is referred to as pediatric plastic surgery. The most common reasons for its operations are reconstructive or cosmetic. This distinction is frequently hazy in children since many congenital abnormalities affect physical and cosmetic functions. The surgery uses operational instrumental therapy to cure wounds or medical disorders. Greek word plastikos, which means 'to construct ' or 'to acquire shape,' is the root of the word plastic. This prefix makes sense because most reconstructive and cosmetic surgical treatments involve reconstructing or reforming body parts. A congenital abnormality is usually corrected during the 3 % of plastic surgery procedures performed on children.
Reconstructive plastic surgery treats abnormal bodily structures brought on by birth deformities, developmental problems, trauma, infections, tumors, or disease. While restoring normal motor function or preventing current or future health issues are the two main reasons reconstructive surgery is performed, the surgical team also considers aesthetics. Cosmetic surgery is a surgical operation to enhance a patient's physical appearance and self-esteem. Usually, these procedures are optional.
Who Qualifies as a Candidate for Pediatric Plastic Surgery?
Pediatric plastic surgery patients span a wide age range from infants to adults. Pediatric plastic surgeons frequently treat the following conditions:
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Birthmarks.
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Dog bites.
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Ear abnormalities.
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Facial injury.
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Issues with functionality or appearance brought on by injury, illness, or surgery.
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Anomalous hands.
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Hand and arm injuries.
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Abnormalities in the veins.
Some medical disorders require multiple treatments. This is frequently done to lessen physical and psychological scars. Physicians only finish some of them at a time. They stage them [primarily] so the patient can develop without scarring and needing multiple surgeries while young.
What Are the Types of Pediatric Plastic Surgery?
To maximize functioning, reconstructive surgery is used to repair an anatomical difference. The purpose of aesthetic surgery is to restore form and look. Most of the time, these two forms of surgery are combined to treat children. The specialization itself covers a wide range of topics, including:
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Craniofacial and Cleft Surgery: for kids born with facial differences, craniosynostosis (premature union of skull sutures resulting in a misshaped head), and facial fractures;
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Pediatric Hand Surgery: It treats congenital disabilities of the hand, wrist, and upper extremities and those brought on by infection, trauma, and malignancies.
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Microvascular Surgery: Surgical repair of blood arteries and nerves beneath the microscope to reestablish and cure soft tissue abnormalities or skeletal defects, comprising finger or hand removal with replantation, brachial plexus repair, or free tissue transfer for injury closure and paralysis of the face.
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General Pediatric Plastic Surgery: for the treatment of moles, cysts, tumors, burns, traumatic injuries, complex wounds, and vascular anomalies;
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Aesthetic Cosmetic Surgery: addressing flaws with treatments such as body contouring, rhinoplasty, otoplasty (prominent ears), and breast reduction.
What Are the Most Common Birth Defects That Require Reconstructive Plastic Surgery?
Plastic surgeons can treat some of the most prevalent congenital birth abnormalities independently or as multidisciplinary team members. The most typical congenital malformations in children requiring the assistance of a plastic surgeon are:
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Cleft Lip and Palate - Babies born with the condition will have an opening in the upper lip. The opening, which may vary from a small notch to being very close to the base of the nostril, can be tiny or enormous, affecting either one or both sides of the lip. Clefts are thought to impact 1 in 700–1000 live births globally. About 25 percent of cleft lip and palate occurrences are thought to be hereditary, with the remaining 75 percent resulting from a combination of environmental and random variables.
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Polydactyly or Syndactyly - The most frequent congenital deformity affecting limbs. It is believed that syndactyly manifests in various ways, in which fingers may be united either partially or over their entire length or as simple as being joined superficially by the skin. Every 2,000 to 3,000 live births are impacted by it. Approximately two in every 1,000 live births are affected by polydactyly, a condition characterized by extra fingers or toes at birth. The true statistics, however, might be higher because it is thought that many occurrences are so minor that they are treated right away and not reported.
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Craniosynostosis - Craniosynostosis is far less prevalent but possibly much more problematic. A disorder of the central nervous system known as cranial synostosis causes one or more of the fibrous joints in the skull to seal too soon. Surgical intervention is frequently necessary to repair the skull after this fusion, restoring it to its original position or giving it a more natural shape. According to estimates, one in 1,800 to 2,200 live births result in craniosynostosis, which is frequently a complication of a related disease.
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Hypospadias - A birth defect (congenital disorder) known as hypospadias causes the urethra to open at the bottom of the penis rather than the tip. The tube that allows urine to leave the body after leaving the bladder is the urethra. Caring for the baby is not complicated by hypospadias, which is common. Surgery typically returns the child's penis to its original look. Most males with hypospadias can have regular urination and reproduction with effective therapy.
What Are the Aesthetic Considerations That Require Pediatric Cosmetic Plastic Surgery?
While reconstructive operations account for most pediatric plastic surgery procedures, aesthetic procedures exist. The most frequent treatments performed on kids for cosmetic reasons include:
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Breast enhancement.
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Breast reduction in men.
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Ear surgery due to microtia.
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Rhinoplasty.
Nose reshaping typically sees the most instances per year out of all treatments. However, just nine percent of all cases involving nose reshaping involve youngsters. On the other hand, children who required ear surgery accounted for 2,470 operations in 1996 or 34 percent of all ear surgeries. Many plastic surgeons work on these traits (giving them a more normal appearance) while performing surgery to enhance function due to a congenital deformity, even though many of these treatments are done solely for cosmetic reasons.
Conclusion:
Aesthetic and reconstructive improvements to a child's appearance are the focus of pediatric plastic surgery, a surgical subspecialty to improve quality of life and restore functionality for those with anomalies, whether congenital or acquired due to an illness or traumatic event.
