Plastic Surgery Pioneers of the Central Powers in the Great War

Abstract

Plastic surgical techniques were described in antiquity and the Middle Ages; however, the genesis of modern plastic surgery is in the early 20th century. The exigencies of trench warfare, combined with medical and technological advances at that time, enabled pioneers such as Sir Harold Gillies to establish what is now recognized as plastic and reconstructive surgery. The physicians of Germany, Russia, and the Ottoman Empire were faced with the same challenges; it is fascinating to consider parallel developments in these countries. A literature review was performed relating to the work of Esser, Lanz, Joseph, Morestin, and Filatov. Their original textbooks were reviewed. We describe the clinical, logistical, and psychological approaches to managing plastic surgical patients of these physicians and compare and contrast them to those of the Allies, identifying areas of influence such as Gillies’ adoption of Filatov's tube pedicle flap.

Tweakments: Non‐surgical beauty technologies and future directions for the sociology of the body

“…Medical histories of cosmetic interventions often begin in the 20th century with WW1 and the trench warfare that disfigured the faces of young conscripts and left them ashamed to return home (Gilman, 1999). Harold Gillies is well known for developing a skin flap technology that enabled skin transfers to the face from elsewhere on the body, treating severe burns, along with other maxillofacial procedures that grafted bone to rebuild smashed jaws and cheeks (Thomas et al., 2019). The emphasis of these early surgeons was on restoring function, but, so the narrative goes, they often wanted to spare these casualties the disfigurement that harmed both personal relationships and economic independence (Bourke, 1996).…”

El pabellón de oficiales (2001)

“…Durante su tiempo de servicio, desarrolló varias técnicas quirúrgicas como autoplastias usando injertos cartilaginosos y adiposos para reconstruir defectos de tejido 4 . En la actualidad, se siguen utilizando varios tratamientos que datan de la Primera Guerra Mundial, como la aplicación de la 'férula dental' en el tratamiento de fracturas, colgajos de transposición intraoral para sellar pequeñas lesiones y trasplantes de hueso de la cresta ilíaca para restaurar defectos de la mandíbula (Foto 7).…”

Laser Speckle Contrast Imaging in Reconstructive Surgery

“…He contributed with many new approaches on facial reconstruction and flap techniques. 9 During the 20th century, reconstructive surgery evolved further, with larger leaps during major military conflicts such as world war two and the conflicts in Korea and Indochina. One of the major steps was the introduction of various optical techniques to magnify the operating field.…”