IPRAS

Sydney. Australian Surgeons have played an active rolein the International Confederation with representatives onthe central Committee and the Asia Pacific section.Over the years since the inception of the College, greatadvances have been made in Plastic Surgery. In PaediatricSurgery, for example, craniofacial procedures, genitaliacorrection, velopharyngeal procedures and improvementsin cleft lip and palate offer new hope for children bornwith congenital abnormalities.Victims of trauma can receive replacement of severedbody parts such as fingers, hands, scalps and ears, whilethe treatment of burns sees an ongoing quest for everbetter methods of skin culture and grafting and post burnscar relief.Breast reconstruction, as well as reduction andaugmentation, the treatment of male and female genitalabnormalities and of facial palsy are only some of theareas in which plastic surgery advances provide a betterand more normal life to patients.With the use of the surgical microscope, osseointegration,plate fixation,tissueandboneexpansion,musculocutaneousflaps, free flap transfers, muscle and nerve transpositionand transplantation, vascularised bone grafts and bonesubstitutions, we have reached results in reconstructionundreamed of 75 years ago.The elixir of eternal youth or a magic wand have not yetbeen developed but the subperiostal face lift, brow lift,hair micrografting, liposuction, laser surgery, implants,collagen, abdominoplasty and so on offer ways of defyingthe physical signs of ageing or creating a new image forthe patient.Many surgeons from the Antipodes have made significantcontributions on the International scene. Moore, Pickerill,Rank, Wakefield, Hueston, Thompson, David, O’Brienand Morrison have written well known textbooks, whilethey and others have contributed chapters to PlasticSurgery literature worldwide. B. K. Rank, Ian Taylor,Wayne Morrison, Bernard O’Brien, to name just a few,have been major presenters at International Meetings.Some of the World’s first microsurgery procedures werecarried out and reported in Australia. Let’s look withpride at these examples.Replacement of completely severed digit (P.G.Lendvay and E.R Owen:1970)The first Free Transfer of tissue by vascularanastomosis (G.I.Taylor and RK. Daniel: 1973)The free vascularangeal bone graft (G.I.Taylor,G.D.H. Miller and F.1. Ham: 1975)Replantation of an avulsed scalp by microvascularanastonosis (G.K.H. Miller, E.1. Anstee and J.ASnell: 1976)*The iliac crest free flap (G.I. Taylor, P. Towns and RCorlett: 1979)Replantation of a completely avulsed ear (D.G.Pennington, M.F. Lai and AD. Pelly: 1980)“Wrap around” toe to thumb transfer forreconstruction(W. Morrison, B. O’Brien and AMacLeod: 1984)Since 1974 the B. K. Rank Travelling Professorshiphas been awarded annually, to a distinguished PlasticSurgeon from an overseas centre of excellence. The listreads like the Who is Who of the speciality. But it hasnot always been one sided. Australian Plastic Surgeonshave been awarded Overseas Visiting Professorshipsand, particularly in the Asia Pacific region, have servedto benefit the hospitals in their host nations.In addition, overseas visits by groups of Plastic Surgeonsfrom our area have been well organised and visits tocentres in the United States, China, India and Russiahave led to great interchange of ideas.Until recent times, there were no professorialappointments in Australia, however Wayne Morrisonwas the first such appointee and is now Professor ofSurgery at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne. The firstacademic Chair in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery isheld by Michael Poole in Sydney at St. George Hospital.The University of Auckland New Zealand appointed SirWilliam Manchester Professor of Plastic Surgery in 1977,the first such appointment in our area.It should also be noted that a federally funded CraniofacialUnit exists in Adelaide, under the Chairmanship of DavidDavid. However, there are other Craniofacial units in otherPlastic Surgery departments. These all draw patients, notonly from Australia, but from countries near and far.Here we must make mention of Interplast Australia, whichis a medical relief organisation initiated in 1983, whichsends Australian Plastic Surgery teams to some twentydifferent areas throughout the South Pacific. These teamsconsist of two Plastic Surgeons, an Anaesthetist and nurse,all volunteers. Procedures are carried out in the field butthere have been some forty five patients who have beenbrought to centres in Australia, while approximatelyforty eight doctors and nurses from eleven different areashave secured valuable experience here, which they takeback to their country of origin. Since 1983, 286 teamshave examined over twenty thousand patients and carriedout over twelve thousand operations, assisted by localmedical and nursing staff.As previously mentioned, Sir Benjamin Rank was thefirst President of Interplast, followed by Don Marshall.When Plastic Surgery was first officially recognised as aSurgical Speciality by the College in 1956, there were just21 qualified Surgeons. Last year, 2001, there were 257.Like all other surgical groups, Plastic and ReconstructiveSurgery has had its problems; a lack of realistic level ofvisiting medical officers, shortage of Hospital beds andIssue 7 www.ipras.org IPRAS Journal 67