Hello Steemians, Hope you are all wonderful. A few months back I read an article in National Geographic news website talking about growing a nose on a person's forehead. Though the news was quite old published in 2013, I was surprised to read the article and was amazed by the fact that we are drastically advancing in the field of science and medicine. A few days back I again read an article about growing an ear in the arm of a soldier. This made me more curious to know more about surgical reconstruction of damaged human parts. First, let's see what Surgical Reconstruction is all about.
What is Surgical Reconstruction?
With various advancements in the modern science, some surgical procedures are used to restore the form and function of a damaged body part. This reconstruction of the affected body part is done by plastic surgeons, facial surgeons, and ENT surgeons. These types of reconstructive surgeries are carried out on people who were affected by cancer, people who met with an accident, trauma affected people and for people who had other diseases where a part of their body was removed. Reconstruction of affected body parts is also carried out by other surgeries such as:
- General surgery
- Podiatric surgery
- Keyhole surgery
- Cosmetic surgery
- Gynecological surgery
- Pediatric surgery
This operation complexity can be of any type where an attempt is made to restore the anatomy or appearance and functions of the body parts. This is either performed by the general surgeons or experts who are capable of doing complex surgeries. As mentioned the operative procedures can be something of a simple procedure like closure and dressing the affected region to more complicated procedures that will require tissue rebuilding or expansion, skin grafts, organ transplant, regrowing the affected part and free flaps. These types of Surgical reconstructive procedures have been improving for several decades. One such advancement is the reconstruction of an affected nose or ear.
Reconstruction of a nose on a man's forehead
As I mentioned in the introduction part of this article, this was a bit of a old news from 2013. The article has all the details that a person needs. This surgical procedure is called prelamination in medical terms. It was not just a nose that was regrown but there were also instances where ears were also regrown in a person's arm before it was transplanted. It is believed that this is not a very new technology but it was being followed by the local surgeons for several years. But we have been continuously advancing in this procedure. Though the person who undergoes this surgery will have a discomfort for few days until the new nose grows, it will be very comfortable after it has been successfully transplanted.
PHOTOGRAPH BY REUTERS/STRINGER
This patient suffered irreparable damage to his nose from a car accident and subsequent infection. Now surgeons are growing a replacement on his forehead.
Reconstruction of the damaged ear by growing ear in the arm
The next successful surgical reconstruction was a few days back where doctors grew an ear in a Soldier's arm and it is now all over the internet. The soldier was just 21 years old when she met with a car accident in Texas. The soldier's own cartilage was used for the reconstruction of the ear. This was reported as one of the complicated surgical procedures done so far. The cartilage was extracted from the ribs and was used for the reconstruction of the ear. The reconstructed ear was then placed under the arm for growth. When the rehabilitation procedure is fully complete the Burrage will start to feel her new ears.
Retracted studies on surgical reconstruction
We are still exploring a lot in surgical reconstruction. Though we see a lot of breakthroughs every year in the field of surgical reconstruction of an affected body part, there is still a long way to go. There have been many studies and proposals made to handle other prosthetic rehabilitation such as helping a patient with the orbital prosthesis. [3] We end up with a retracted study and we are still unable to understand every aspect of it and progress. The researchers will continue to explore and there will be lots of studies and new discoveries happening.
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