Despite its overwhelming media presence plastic surgery continues to be the most misunderstood surgical specialty. It is my contention that this is the case because plastic surgery does not claim any specific disease (e. g. coronary artery disease in case of cardiac surgery) as its own nor does it focus on any single organ system […]
CEO Announcement: Aesthetic Medicine and Skin Therapy
I am pleased to announce the cooperation of Trinidad Institute of Plastic Surgery and A. M. E. Skin Care Center. A. M. E. Skin Care Center is a full service skin therapy clinic, owned an operated by Areana Emmanuel, certified aesthetician. A native of Trinidad, Areana has been intrigued with the beauty industry from a […]
Six Packs and the Male Abdominal Wall
A not infrequent request by male clients is the “six pack” stomach and if there is a cosmetic procedure to enhance/produce it. The look of a “six pack” stomach is created by a very well trained midline muscle group – two about 10cm wide muscles on each side of the midline running from the chest […]
Correcting Crooked Noses and Faces
The correlation between structure and appearance is most straightforward when the skeleton is involved. Today’s case involved a young women after a motor vehicle accident more than a decade ago. The forehead was uneven, the brows in unequal position, old hardware palpable over the roof of the eye socket and the nose was crooked and […]
What is cosmetic surgery, what is reconstructive surgery, what is everything in between ?
All too often a difference is made between reconstructive and cosmetic surgery, most often to elevate the status of reconstructive surgery and lower the one of cosmetic surgery. I am a cosmetic surgeon and I do complex reconstrucive surgery. So I never could understand how someone could come up with something so artificial, neither based […]
Specialist Treatment of Burn Injuries
The special expertise and training necessary to treat burn injuries is not widely available. Completion of a one year fellowship training in this area, as the lead surgeon of Trinidad Institute of Plastic Surgery has done 2001-2002 at the Tampa Bay Regional Burn Center, University of South Florida, is certainly desirable before embarking on the […]
Fronto-orbital advancement for correction of craniosynostosis
Numerous craniofacial deformities are characterized by orbital dystopia and anterior skull base deformities. Examples are Crouzon’s syndrome, Apert’s syndrome, coronal and metopic craniosynostosis. Two concepts developed by Paul Tessier (the father of craniofacial surgery) in the 1960’s are crucial to the understanding of the correction of these deformities. Firstly, the superficial skeleton of the eyesocket […]
Tummy tuck or Liposuction
Mini abdominoplasty – tummy tuck, full abdominoplasty – tummy tuck, panniculectomy – excision of fat and skin only – and liposuction and liposculpture each have a specific set of indications, deformities addressed and possible improvements. The main determinants influencing the optimal choice of procedure are skin elasticity, excess of fat and laxity of the musculofascial […]
A Cleft Pastiche
Difficult Wrists
During my hand fellowship I once asked my program director Al Hess MD why he had become a hand surgeon after completing his training in orthopaedic surgery. His answer was “In the other stuff I had become so perfect that it was boring”. Wrist surgery is a prime example why hand surgery is never boring, […]