Features archive for 2013
Liquid Face Lift
In recent years aesthetic medicine and aesthetic surgery have been getting closer. This phenomenon is modifying our approach to patients: aesthetic medicine doctors have increased their range of treatments to include more aggressive methods, while aesthetic surgeons tend to choose...
Training in Facial Plastic Surgery in the UK
Following the Keogh report earlier this year into the quality of cosmetic surgery in the UK, surgical training into cosmetic surgery is high on the agenda. A Cosmetic Surgery Interspecialty Committee at the Royal College of Surgeons will be discussing...
Sir Archibald McIndoe and the Guinea Pig Club
The early life of Sir Archibald McIndoe Archibald Hector McIndoe was born in Dunedin, New Zealand on 4th May, 1900. His father John was a printer and mother Mabel an artist. He was the second eldest child of four children....
Mercy Mission: all aboard with Mercy Ships off the coast of West Africa
Countries along the coast of West Africa are amongst the poorest in the world. Extreme levels of poverty often lead to poor outcomes or fatalities in many medical conditions that would be eminently treatable, with good outcomes in more developed...
The Challenge of Renaissance, not Reconstruction: the aftermath of an acid attack
What madness makes a human being perpetrate a crime that is so horrible, so evil that makes it a capital offense (in Bangladesh) even though the death involved is of a person who remains alive? The motivation behind an interpersonal...
A Reaction to the ‘Keogh Report’
In April 2013, the British Government’s report on regulation and safety issues in the cosmetic surgery sector was produced, authored by NHS Medical Director Prof Sir Bruce Keogh. The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the British Association of...
Reconstructive Surgery in Post Colonial Africa
Both plastic and maxillo-facial surgery developed out of armed combat. Initially, general surgeons attached to the military might perform reconstructive attempts, but more realistically and pragmatically, destructive surgery was more suited to their situation. Amputation of limbs undoubtedly saved lives...
Handy Solutions
Very few people, if any, enjoy the ravages associated with the ageing process. Apoptosis (programmed cell death) occurs throughout life, but for some unknown reason (possibly associated with epigenetics) cellular replacement and therefore matrix volume decreases. The result is that...
From PIP to DC-CIK to the Sorcerer’s Apprentice: a medico-political minefield
Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) was a French company that manufactured silicone breast implants that were surgically implanted mainly for cosmetic breast augmentation. Of note, ‘cosmetic’ is used in the strict sense of the word meaning false and artificial and does...
The First World War and the Development of Facial Surgery
Facial surgery has a history stretching to antiquity, but its success depended on luck until medical science had advanced enough to deal with three major issues – infection, surgical shock from blood loss and good anaesthesia. It was not until...
A Timeline of Plastic Surgery
Where did the name ‘plastic’ surgery come from? It is probable that the first use of the term was by the German von Graefe in his book Rhinoplastik published in 1818. The intention was to describe the moulding of tissue...
Rediscovering the Lost Art of Endonasal Rhinoplasty
The invention of modern rhinoplasty by Joseph transformed our understanding of nasal anatomy and surgery. His endonasal technique soon spread from Europe to the USA and dominated the surgical culture of the 20th century. The excessive removal nasal support structures...
