Plastic surgery not just performed for cosmetic reasons

Published June 17, 2009
By Master Sgt. Kimberly A. Yearyean-Siers
59th Medical Wing Public Affairs

LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- "A nip here, a tuck there, a Botox injection, or enhancements to make me more attractive," is the answer you get from most people if they are asked, "What does a plastic surgeon do?"

Although a plastic surgeon is required to do a certain number of cosmetic procedures to keep up a skill set in his or her specialty; that, alone, does not tell the whole story of the surgeons assigned to the 59th Surgical Specialties Squadron's Plastic Surgery Flight.

On the surface, it appears that many of the surgeries performed are for aesthetic reasons, but each one of the techniques used is similar to a reconstructive one that the doctors will perform to treat a trauma victim or a wounded warfighter.

"Performing cosmetic procedures reinforces the surgeon's knowledge of anatomy," said Lt. Col. (Dr.) Earl Ferguson, plastic surgery consultant to the Air Force surgeon general. "It is difficult to restore an injured warfighter or trauma victim to (his or her) normal appearance if you do not routinely see normal."

Performing a facelift prepares a surgeon to do local flap coverage of soft tissue defects or damage; a nose job, or rhinoplasty, involves nasal reconstruction; a tummy tuck, or abdominoplasty, entails abdominal reconstruction; breast surgery provides training on the restoration of native anatomy following cancer or trauma; and Botox restores facial symmetry following nerve damage.

"Our surgeons take what they learn from these procedures to the war zones and on humanitarian missions to such places as Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Colombia where they will treat between 35 to 40 patients in a two-week deployment," said Dr. Ferguson.

Many of the cases seen during humanitarian missions are cleft lips and palates. The doctors will perform 60 to 80 of these surgeries each year, between the humanitarian missions and at their home station. The management of this congenital deformity is one of the unique skill sets of the plastic surgeon.

Although the plastic surgeons deploy for general surgery, they often are called upon to use their expertise to perform soft tissue repair to wounds.

"They are surgeons first, so their broad background enables employment in multiple capacities during mass casualty situations, dealing with everything from abdominal surgery to hand surgery," said Dr. Ferguson. "Their wound expertise and experience with catastrophic injuries make them some of the most consulted surgeons at Wilford Hall Medical Center."