The past and future of cosmetic surgery.
Facial reconstructive surgery started out of necessity after the First World War, as many veterans returned home with deforming battle scars. At first, surgeons with little knowledge or specialist skills were forced to simply sew together jagged shrapnel wounds leaving a painful healing process which often left patients little better off. Photographs of veterans from that time show many wearing clay masks to hide gaping holes and broken faces, similar to the famous mask of the main character in Phantom of the Opera.
This lead to the rapid evolution of specialist reconstructive plastic surgery.
Now in 2022, maxillofacial reconstruction has come a long way with innovative technology. A technique has just been tested successfully of 3D printing new facial features for patients who were unfortunate to have lost them to ailments such as cancer. Using cells and organic material from their patients, doctors have been able to print cartilage and nose structures.
It was first researched many years ago yet the technology needed time to catch up, as the knowledge required did not yet exist.
Patient zero for this technology was a fifty year old woman who had most of her nose removed after surgery to remove nasal cancer leaving her unable to smell. When doctors first performed surgery on her removing her nose they took her genetic material and 3D printed her a new nose exactly replicating the shape of the original. Yet at the time it was not possible to implant and so was preserved on ice until enough was known for human trials.
Finally, doctors have now been able to implant the nose into her inner arm. where the graft was connected to her blood stream as it matched her tissue type exactly and there was no chance of rejection. The blood vessels brought in nutrients to allow flesh and cartilage to grew around the mould of the nose, which took two months to develop into the full form.
This discovery is so revolutionary because this technology has such wide potential applications. It could soon be possible to grow new organs inside the body or complex structures like the eye or bone. There is even the possibility that new limbs could be formed with this technique over longer periods of time. It is one of the reasons I am keen to enter this side of medicine – surgical skill combined with cutting edge technology for a vastly improved outcome for people who have been injured.
100 years ago, this technology would have seemed an impossible miracle to suffering soldiers and development of scientific technology is improving drastically. Just think about what could happen if we were to combine this research with stem cell specialisation. All we need now is time and diligent minds.
- The past and future of cosmetic surgery - 22nd November 2022
- Sixth form to medical student - 15th September 2022
