CRANIOFACIAL SURGERY

Post traumatic and post surgical reconstruction

Following cancer treatment, plastic surgeons become integral to restoration of form and function, rebuilding body parts, limbs and facial features. Often the plastic surgeons will do their work during the surgery to remove the cancer, though sometimes a second operation is the necessary for reconstruction depending upon individual circumstances. Cancers of the head or neck may need bone grafts after removal of the tumour.

Under general anaesthesia, some of the facial bones are cut and repositioned into a more normal facial structure. After cancer treatment, plastic surgery techniques can be used to remerge nerve fibres and facial blood vessels. The procedure may take from four to 14 hours to complete. Pieces of bone (bone grafts) may be taken from the pelvis, ribs, or skull to fill in the spaces where bones of the face and head have been moved. Small metal screws and plates are sometimes be used to hold the bones in place and the jaw may be wired together to hold the new bone positions in place.

Amongst adults, traumatic injuries to the face and head can be comprised of heat, chemicals, and tears. Repairing burns requires plastic surgery while most traumas require maxillofacial surgery. Children mostly experience facial traumas due to accidents or animal bites. Whatever the trauma, after assessment, x-ray or CT imaging of the facial injury will confirm extent and detail of the fractures. The surgeon will want to correct as much as possible in a single treatment, so surgery may require up to 14 hours and involve taking bone from other areas of the body to fix deformed facial bones augmented with polymer implants to fill minor areas.