Canadian surgeons performed the first ever scar-free reconstruction on a young man whose face was bashed and deformed five years ago. A team led by Dr. Daniel Borsuk, a renowned reconstructive surgeon, conducted a groundbreaking procedure which was the first of its kind in Canada.
In the surgery that lasted eight hours, Dr. Borsuk and his team performed the facial reconstruction by using virtual surgery and 3D models. They removed a vascularized part of a pelvic bone complete with veins and arteries that feed it, and reshaped it into the exact shape of the patient's undamaged cheekbone.
"There was blood going in and out of the bone, keeping the little implant alive while I sculpted it to fit his face," Dr. Borsuk, reconstructive doctor at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont and a professor at the University of Montreal said.
He did not opt to use bone graft or implants because they are grounds for infection. Alex, who had several reconstructive surgeries in the past, was desperate to have his old face back. However, those surgeries all failed, and he even had pus oozing from his eyelid because of infection for about a year.
Upon hearing of Dr. Borsuk's expertise, he went to his clinic to sign up for a reconstructive surgery. He was promised that his face will be back and there will be no scars. By mapping the surgery route in a computerized scan of his patient's face and a manufacturing software, the surgeon was able to shape the exact copy and size of the bone in the patient's good cheek.
Dr. Borsuk and his team revealed that the secret to having a scar-free surgery is putting the transplant inside the mouth. He said that the implant "clicked on like a puzzle."
"The operation, during which the latest technologies were applied to reconstructive plastic surgery, sends a real message of hope to anyone who feels they must simply live with this type of disfigurement and who often feels so self-conscious that they isolate themselves," Dr. Borsuk said in press release.
In 2012, Dr. Borsuk was the only Canadian among Americans in a reconstructive surgery team that conducted a breakthrough and successful operation on a 37-year old man whose face was deformed because of a gun shooting accident.
