ISAPS Meeting San Francisco
Janek Januszkiewicz attended the 20th Biennial Congress of the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery in San Francisco during August.
Janek is currently Chairman of the Membership Committee for this international organisation of plastic surgeons established in 1970 at the United Nations headquarters in New York as a body charged with promoting the highest standards of professional practice, patient care and education in aesthetic plastic surgery around the world.
The Congress is an opportunity for plastic surgeons around the world to gather for scientific and social interchange. The world’s leading innovators in plastic surgery were there to share the latest advances in their countries.
The meeting began with a first of its kind Global Summit on patient safety bringing together leaders from a variety of fields including plastic surgeons, anaesthetists, legislators and commercial representatives all with a common goal to drive forward the ISAPS key mission of patient safety.
It was attended by over 1,300 practising plastic surgeons from 83 different countries during which 386 scientific papers were presented on a variety of topics. Of notable interest was the advances in the science of fat grafting and stem cell research, how it will apply both to reconstructive and cosmetic applications in plastic surgery.
Our plastic surgery nurses Karen Coubray and Karen Baker were fortunate to also attend the Congress and share first hand in the latest advances in the world of plastic surgery.
Participation in the Congress confirmed that the procedures and techniques of our surgeons at the New Zealand Institute of Plastic and Cosmetic Surgery are at the leading edge of global aesthetic surgery trends and advances.
Recognising Changes in Facial Aging
All of us can recognise the changes we see in facial aging. These include a deterioration in skin quality, a deepening of facial lines and a sagging or loosening of the tissues around the eyes, jowls and neck. This manifests as excess skin and, in the past, traditional facelift surgery focused only on removal of this skin.
Less well recognised but equally important changes of facial aging include the loss or redistribution of facial fat volume that occurs over time, as well as changes in the bony framework of the face (by absorption or loss of bone). Simple skin removal by surgery will only address some of the aging features. Depending on the needs of the individual there are a variety of other measures, both surgical and non-surgical that combine to create a more natural and complete solution.
A common theme is the addition of facial volume either through the use of synthetic fillers or tissue grafts (such as fat grafts) from the patient herself. The role of facial volume loss and replacement receives as much attention today as did talk of tissue descent in the past. Now there is less emphasis on pulling skin tight to stretch deep creases and folds, and instead more emphasis on restoring a youthful soft tissue shape to the face. This is complemented by modern skin care technologies.
This change in emphasis is fundamental to the modern treatment of facial aging. It is an increasingly sophisticated three-dimensional or “volumetric” concept that is helping contemporary plastic surgeons avoid the artificial or stretched unusual appearances seen in the past and instead achieve more natural looking and harmonious results.
The choices available to today’s consumer are wide-ranging and sometimes confusing. ‘Facelift’ is a catch-all phrase that is easily tossed about but can have very different meanings – ranging from a basic skin tightening to the modern multidimensional approach to facial rejuvenation described above. It is important that patients considering facelift surgery understand these differences when making choices about their treatment.
