Dr. Gregory T. Mesna, MD.
History of Plastic Surgery
Mankind has always strived for self-improvement.
Human
beings have always sought self-fulfillment through self-improvement. Plastic surgery,
which involves improving and restoring natural form and function, may be one of the
world's oldest healing arts.
Written evidence cites medical treatment for facial injuries more than 4,000
years ago. Physicians in ancient India were utilizing skin grafts for reconstructive work
as early as 800 B.C.
It wasn't until the 19th and 20th Centuries that the specialty forged ahead
both scientifically and within the medical establishment in both Europe and the United
States. The first cleft palate operation in the New World was performed by Dr
Mettauer in 1827 with instruments he designed himself. The war to end all wars,
World War I, catapulted plastic surgery into a new and higher realm. Never before
had physicians been required to treat so many and such extensive facial and head
injuries. Shattered jaws, blown-off noses and lips and gaping skull wounds caused by
"modern" weapons required innovative restorative procedures.
Although there were great leaps forward in plastic surgery after World War
I, the profession was still ill-defined in the American medical establishment in the
1920's. There were no formal means for physicians to share their knowledge and
innovations with other physicians across the country. A professional association was
needed to bring those in the plastic surgery field together. In October
of 1931, with 10 charter members, the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive
Surgeons was launched.
Plastic surgery through the years become even more prominent in the
minds of the American public as the scope of procedures performed by surgeons has
increased. The first breast implant device was performed in Houston, Texas in
1962. The first and only plastic surgeon to date to achieve appointment as the
Surgeon General of the United States occurred in 1969 when President Nixon appointed Hal B
Jennings of San Antonio to the post.
With the beginning of 1990 there were more than 5,000 board-certified plastic
surgeons active in the United States.