How will plastic surgery evolve in the next 30 years? originally appeared on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Eduardo Rodriguez, MD, DDS, international leader in reconstructive surgery, on Quora:
It was only twenty years ago when the movie Face Off came out, and look at what has been accomplished today in this area. To-date, thirty-eight face transplants have been performed worldwide. I’m excited to see what we can achieve in the next twenty to thirty years based on what we’re learning now and the new technologies that are emerging.
Technologies are improving, especially for preoperative planning. A lot more resources are now available to help us create personalized solutions for plastic surgery problems; therefore, making the surgical procedure far more precise. This planning reduces operative time, is safer for the patient, and reduces costs. To put this into context, an hour of preoperative planning can reduce up to two hours of intraoperative time (time spent in the OR).
Examples of these technologies are computerized planning – like computerized surgical planning that uses the patient’s own CT scans. Another example is surgical simulation applications, where we can practice a surgical procedure before performing the actual surgery.
Another evolution is the improvement of off-the-shelf biologic products for tissue reconstruction, whether it’s for soft tissue or hard tissue. These are engineered products that provide a scaffold for tissue replacement and regeneration. This is something we are already doing, but the products continue to improve. They can eliminate additional surgeries on a patient that traditionally would have been needed to transfer tissues from other parts of the body for the reconstruction.
The major evolution in cosmetic surgery is the improvement in non-invasive procedures versus the standard large, open surgical approaches. Lasers are able to do more than remove blemishes, they can also tighten tissue. In addition, new lasers are more targeted than their predecessors even just five years ago, leading to better results and requiring less treatments. The quality of injectable products are better; they’re lasting longer, look more natural, and have minimal detrimental side effects.
Globally, as medicine improves, we are getting better and better at treating diseases, like breast cancer, which will ultimately reduce the number of these types of reconstructive surgeries. These current state-of-the-art procedures may eventually be seen as archaic in the future.
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