The why, when and where of plastic surgery for children

Plastic Surgery as a speciality in India is relatively young. Unlike developed countries, there are very few centres in our country where there is a dedicated team for the treatment of children with anomalies. Pediatric plastic surgery is a subspeciality of Plastic Surgery that aims to improve the quality of life of children with certain anomalies. It helps in restoring function and improves appearance. It involves different areas such as surgery for cleft (split lips), facial differences, malformed ears (microtia), misshaped head (craniosynostosis) and traumatic facial injuries (lacerations, fractures). Pediatric hand surgery is another area which takes care of anomalies such as fused fingers (syndactyly), multiple fingers (polydactyly), upper limb deformities and those following trauma, infection, and tumours.