Ann Plast Reconstr Surg | Volume 7, Issue 3 | Research Article | Open Access
Baptista D1,2,3*, Correia-Pinto J1,2, Larissa Lanzaro L1,2, da Luz Barroso M1,2 and Costa H1,2
1Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho Hospital Centre, Porto, Portugal
2University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
3Funchal Hospital Centre, Madeira, Portugal
*Correspondance to: Daniel Baptista
Fulltext PDFBackground: Public perception of plastic surgery is strongly influenced by the media and may not reflect the broad scope of work within the specialty. The authors sought to identify public perceptions of plastic surgery in the Portuguese population.
Methods: A short, anonymous, survey was distributed to the public in two Portuguese cities. Respondents were asked to choose the specialty they believed were experts in 15 specific clinical procedures and to grade those same specialties by relative importance for the national health system.
Results: A total of 166 surveys were collected. The percent of respondents who chose plastic surgeons as experts in the following procedures included: Skin graft for burn (31%), finger reimplantation (68%), hand tendon repair (31%), abdominoplasty (82%), breast augmentation (94%), rhinoplasty (49%), excision of facial tumor (29%), facial wound repair (34%), mandible fracture (16%) and breast reconstruction (87%). Plastic surgery was correctly identified as the specialty to carry out only five of the ten listed plastic surgery procedures. Plastic surgery also ranked the lowest in terms of relative importance.
Conclusion: Many procedures considered to be the core of plastic surgery are increasingly associated with other specialties. Plastic surgeons are mostly viewed as aesthetic surgeons and as such rank lower in terms of relative importance, compared with the other surgical specialties.
Public perception; Plastic surgery; Aesthetic surgery; Media; Portuguese population
Baptista D, Correia-Pinto J, Larissa Lanzaro L, da Luz Barroso M, Costa H. The Portuguese Public Perception about the Role and Spectrum of Plastic Surgeons. Ann Plast Reconstr Surg. 2023; 7(3): 1111..