Home > Encyclopedia of Science > Plastic Surgery

• Origin of name
• Ancient surgery
• Words to Know
• Wartime advances
• Reconstructive plastic surgery
• Cosmetic plastic surgery
• Grafting
• Recent advances

Plastic surgery is the branch of medicine concerned with the reconstruction and repair of defects in the body. Reconstructive plastic surgery repairs deformities or disfigurements caused by injuries, disease, or birth defects. It seeks not only to make a person look more normal but to function better as well. Cosmetic plastic surgery is performed solely for the purpose of improving the appearance of the body.

Origin of name

Many...