General Plastic Surgery

Wound Care

Plastic surgery for wounds may be a viable option if you have a severe wound. For example, a burn that has limited your mobility, causes a loss of sensation, or is cosmetically unappealing may benefit from plastic surgery. Plastic surgery and microsurgery often go hand in hand to ensure optimal wound healing.

If your wound is severe, you may need to undergo debriding, which is the removal of dead tissue before reconstructive surgery.

Once that is completed, there are several types of wound treatments that your plastic surgeon may suggest, including:

• · Skin Grafts

  This procedure is commonly used for burn patients. Skin is removed from one part of the body and transplanted to another.

• · Microsurgery

  This treatment is suitable for those that have lost a small body part such as a finger, toe, ear or lip. Microsurgery involves the re-attachment of these body parts.

• · Tissue expansion

  This procedure enables your body to grow extra skin for use in reconstructive procedures. This is achieved by inserting an instrument known as a balloon expander under the skin near the area in need of repair.

Keloids

A keloid is a type of scar characterised by thick, rounded, and irregular clusters of scar tissue that grow on a wound, and beyond the edges of the borders of the wound. They may appear red or darker in colour as compared to the surrounding skin.

Treatment may include the following:

• · Steroid injections

  These are injected directly into the keloid scar tissue to help decrease the itching, redness, and burning sensations that these scars may produce

• · Cryotherapy

  This treatment involves the scar being frozen off by a medication. It is often effective in combination with steroid injections for keloid scars.

• · Pressure Therapy

  A pressure appliance is worn over the area of the keloid scar

• · Surgery

  If the keloid is not responsive to nonsurgical management options, surgery may be a more viable option.

• Laser Surgery

  Keloids may be treated with a variety of different lasers, depending on the underlying cause of the scar.

Scars

Scars are visible signs that stay behind after a wound has healed. They are the result of injury or surgery, and their development can be unpredictable. Poor healing may make scars more visible, disfiguring and unsightly.

Scar revision surgery attempts to minimise a scar so that it is less visible and blends in with the surrounding skin.

Treatment options differ according to the type and degree of the scar. They include:

• · Topical Treatments

  These include gels, tapes or external compression to reduce irregular pigment in the skin.

• · Injectable Treatments

  These include dermal fillers to fill depressed or concave scars. Results last anything from three months to several years.

• · Surgery revision with advanced techniques in wound closure

  These include skin grafts, excision, dermabrasion, or laser surgery.

It’s worth noting that while the above procedures can provide a more pleasant cosmetic result or improve a poorly healed scar, a scar cannot be erased entirely. It is therefore important for patients to be realistic about what they can achieve by plastic surgery to treat the scar.