The word "plastic" has come to mean "artificial"
to people in our society today, but that's not where plastic
surgery gets its name. The "plastic" in plastic surgery derives
from "plastikos," a Greek word that means "to mold or
shape."
Although we tend to think of cosmetic surgery
when someone mentions plastic surgery, plastic surgeons have a long
history of performing physical reconstruction. Skin grafts, which
are a form of plastic surgery, were performed in India as long ago
as 800 B.C. By the fourth century A.D., surgeons in Byzantium had
developed fairly sophisticated methods of fine suturing to prevent
scarring.
More significant reconstruction became part of
the plastic surgery universe in the 18th century, when an American
surgeon repaired a cleft palate, and in the 19th century the
development of general anesthesia for surgery helped make plastic
surgery more widely acceptable once people realized they no longer
had to be wide awake to experience pain. Surgery in general became
more commonplace as antibiotics and an understanding of the
importance of modern sanitary measures made all forms of surgery
less dangerous.
World War I, which maimed thousands of soldiers,
was the crucible in which many plastic surgery specialists were
formed. Doctors developed methods for reconstructing ears, noses,
jaws and eyes, and compared notes across national boundaries after
the war.
New techniques and materials are continually
being developed in plastic surgery that can repair an ever-wider
range of physical deformities, and many that make cosmetic surgery
procedures easier, more comfortable, and more affordable than ever
before.