The plastic surgeon intervention at a Level I Trauma Center

The historical origins of plastic surgery prove how important this speciality is in trauma care. Nowadays, the need of a plastic surgeon in a Level I Trauma Center is unquestionable. This report analyzes the number of critically injured patients operated on by plastic surgeons over a period of 5 years at a Level I Trauma Center. The cases were categorized by the anatomical regions requiring surgery. A total of 1,741 patients were operated on resulting in 2,496 procedures over a period of 5 years. The year of 2001 registered the highest number of recorded procedures, with 391. In several cases, two or more major procedures were performed on the same patient, such as nerve, tendon, and artery repair. Except in the year 2003, the hand was the most common anatomical area operated on. The head and neck were the second most frequent anatomical region operated on, with 662 procedures recorded. The average age of the patients submitted to surgery was 32. 8 years. A total of 176 cases involved the participation of other specialities namely, orthopedics and vascular surgery. The specialized procedures categories performed by plastic surgery teams at a trauma center were facial and hand fracture treatment, burn treatment, amputations, flaps, skin grafts, replants, tendon, and nerve and artery repair. This study shows, in a clear way, how important the role of a plastic surgeon is in a Level I Trauma Center and how wide, flexible, and important this speciality can be.