OT Marathon on World Plastic Surgery Day: 24 plastic surgeries in 24 hours at Delhi's RML Hospital

New Delhi: The central government-run RML Hospital in Delhi has conducted a remarkable OT Marathon on World Plastic Surgery Day by performing twenty-four surgeries over twenty-four hours.

The World Plastic Surgery Day is observed on July 15. 

According to a PTI report, Dr Ajay Shukla, medical superintendent of the hospital said, the OT Marathon, which began at 9 am on Monday and continued for 24 hours, saw both new and pending surgeries getting done without affecting emergency cases that needed immediate attention which were dealt with by a separate team of doctors simultaneously.

The World Plastic Surgery Day is observed on July 15. 

Dr Samik Bhattacharya, Department of Burns, Plastic, Maxillofacial and Microvascular Surgery at the hospital said patients whose surgeries were postponed and cases needing immediate care were chosen. 

The surgeries performed included those for deformities due to trauma and burns, acute injuries leading to skin loss and congenital anomalies like cleft-lip and palate, removal of large-size birthmarks and bed sores.

There has been at least 25-30 per cent increase in the number of people opting for plastic surgeries with men forming a sizeable proportion among them because of increased awareness.

The self-awareness of the population has increased in both genders in urban areas.

"Because of exposure, movies and social media, people have become more conscious about how they look and appear. So besides plastic reconstructive surgeries for trauma and cancer and burns, these days people approach for cosmetic improvements which include procedures such as liposuction, facelift, breast augmentation, rhinoplasty. The most common procedure for which men come is the removal of male breasts and for hair transplant," he said, news agency PTI reported.

With improved training and availability of technology, the safety in plastic surgery has improved a lot, which is another reason for more people opting for it now, Dr Bhattacharya said.

"From TV shows to social media, from movies to advertisements, the public is bombarded with information regarding cosmetic surgery and its impacts.

"And all such information may not be based on facts and many are far from reality. This builds misconceptions and unrealistic expectations. And it's imperative to filter facts form fictions and present a realistic picture of cosmetic surgery based on scientific knowledge," Dr Bhattacharya said.

The plastic surgery OT marathon was also a training exercise. Such training improves capacity to handle disasters and mass casualty.

"On an average, six cases are performed in a day," Dr Bhattacharya said.

Plastic surgery is the broad full body speciality which deals with both reconstruction of any defect or loss of body parts and cosmetic surgery.

The speciality includes reconstruction of body parts lost due to cancer surgery or trauma, restoration of normal appearance in cases of deformities by birth or acquired due to trauma or burns. Specific trauma like facial fractures and hand injuries are dealt with by plastic surgeons.

Cosmetic surgery is a subspecialty of plastic surgery, which pertains to augmentation or betterment of appearance focusing on aesthetics of beauty, he explained.