The Need for an Original Think Tank to Discuss and Advance the Collaboration between Orthopaedic and Plastic Surgeons: Announcing the “International Journal of Orthoplastic Surgery”

Abstract

The standard of high quality health care has progressively become more important in recent years. This is due to a rise in patients' autonomy and to an increased awareness of their rights. Easy access to a wider range of information through the internet have contributed to a change in patients' expectations, decision making and knowledge. In response to the raising demand of high quality care, health professionals' leaders and managers are more focused on expanding services to meet the needs of patients, to improve efficiency and to minimise errors. Furthermore, scientific societies, medical associations and health communities routinely revise guidelines and protocols to provide evidence-based practise, to ultimately improve health care delivery and to continually develop our profession. The importance of effective team working, within the surgical team and wider multidisciplinary teams, has recently been highlighted in order to maintain patient safety, good surgical practice, team performances and high quality surgical services [1].Therefore, in the last years several specialties have begun to collaborate to maximize efficiency and to enable multidisciplinary working for a comprehensive surgical treatment. Positive experience and good practise outcomes were reported by head and neck oncology teams composed of ENT surgeons, plastic surgeons, maxillofacial surgeons, radiotherapists, radiologists, and oncologists. Their multi-disciplinary approach allows for early, continual communication and meticulous operative planning [2,3].Another positive example of multidisciplinary collaboration is represented by breast reconstruction teams, where breast surgeons, plastic surgeons and oncologists often work closely to treat breast cancer, restore form and contour with excellent results [4].It has also been proposed that orthopaedic and plastic surgeons work collaboratively [1,5]. Several departments are now organizing multidisciplinary meetings for both trauma and oncology, and developing joint operating lists and teams [5]. To define the new partnership and describe this innovative surgical approach between both disciplines, orthopaedic and plastic surgery, the term "orthoplastic surgery" was introduced [6].The etymology of this original subject, is not only the combination of the names between two surgical disciplines but intrinsically contains itself the aims, scope, and range of action of our new specialty. The term Orthopaedia was coined by the Frenchman Nicholas Andry, derived from the Greek words ὀρθός orthos ("correct", "straight") and παιδίον paidion ("child"), with the meaning to "teach several ways of preventing and correcting deformities in children". The field of orthopaedics then expanded to include the surgical and non-surgical treatment of both children and adults [7]. The meaning of "plastic surgery," derived from the Greek πλαστική (τέχνη), plastikē (tekhnē), "the art of modelling" of pliable surface. Hence, the term orthoplastic surgery means "correct deformities and remodel tissue". The intention of thi...

Metatarsal Bone Transposition as an Innovative and Alternative Salvage Procedure for Complex Foot Injuries: A Case Report

“…Furthermore, with development of surgical technologies and microsurgical procedures, it is more common to perform local, pedicled and free flaps even in difficult or emergency contexts [11][12][13][14][15][16]. Furthermore, the increasing collaboration between orthopaedic and plastic surgeons, developing a new discipline known as orthoplastic surgery, has contributed to offer a more integrated approach to solve difficult cases [17]. In our situation we have reported the possibility to perform a foot salvage after large complex foot defects with an innovative reconstructive method, in order to preserve the function of the foot.…”