Plastic surgery often conjures thoughts of elective cosmetic procedures sought by adults; however, pediatric plastic surgery is a specialty sub-category dedicated to the specific needs of infants, children, and adolescents. It addresses a range of reconstructive procedures including those focusing on congenital conditions, acquired problems and injuries. Children present a special case for plastic surgeons in that procedures have to accommodate not only the issues at hand but must also consider that the patient will continue to grow. Coping skills and emotional needs of the young patient and the parent must also be addressed as a part of this specialized area of plastic surgery.
The reasons for seeking pediatric plastic surgery are vast, but congenital conditions, those abnormalities which are present from birth, are those most often addressed in this specialized area of medicine. Craniofacial and maxillofacial surgeries address disorders that affect the jaw, face, palate, and skull. Some of the circumstances surrounding this specialty are cleft lips and palates which can affect feeding and speech, craniosyntosis, an occurrence in pre-term infants resulting in undue pressure in the skull as well as a misshapen head, hemifacial microsomia, a condition causing one side of the face to not develop at the same pace as the other, and facial paralysis due various syndromes.
Other conditions approached by pediatric plastic surgeons involve skin lesions and disorders such as port wine stains, hemangiomas and other birthmarks, and burns. Malformations and scars caused by traumatic injury are also addressed, as well as other congenital issues such those affecting limb and appendage deformations. One particular up and coming condition addressed by corrective reconstructive procedures is the incidence of positional plagiocephaly the "head flattening" phenomenon that was increased more than fivefold when a national effort by the American Academy of Pediatrics to reduce sudden infant death syndrome was initiated.
Because children are not yet finished growing, it is imperative that these pediatric specialists be privy to the consequence of growing tissue and bone as it relates to the specific surgery. Those who perform reconstructive procedures on children are one part of an involved team that usually includes a pediatric dermatologist, social workers, adolescent psychiatrists, and other child life experts. Intensive research, information, and counseling is available for children facing the incredible and life changing outcomes that accompany these operations as well as for their parents who play a huge roll advocating for their children; the coping skills taught during pre- and post-procedural counseling are as important to the emotional healing of those involved as the surgery itself.
Most of the procedures addressed are fall into the reconstructive or reformation category and are therefore traditionally covered within insurance policies. It is a possibility that even though the basis for the surgery is reconstruction that part of the process will be attributed to cosmetic desire; cosmetic surgery for the purpose of aesthetics is not generally covered by insurance policies though there may be some "loop holes" that define the impending cosmetic need as a result of the initial reconstruction.
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