COSMETIC SURGERY - CORRECTION OF FACIAL APPEARANCE BY MAXILLOFACIAL AND PLASTIC SURGEONS

Dr Mathew Akama (fourth from the right) with a group of young dentists

There are several indications for maxillofacial and plastic surgeons to work as a multi-disciplinary team to correct the aesthetic appearance of a patient’s face as part of reconstructive surgery.  These conditions include complicated malformations such as the Tessier cleft and severe orthognahic deformities.  Dr. Mathew Kiriago Akama is an experienced maxillofacial surgeon and an educator with a busy clinical practice in Nairobi.  He was a moderator of the weekly Maxillofacial and Plastic Surgery journal club on 5th December 2022, where he led a comprehensive discussion on surgical enhancement and correction of facial structures.

 

The presenter, Dr Nahashon Njeru presented various surgical procedures carried out on eyes, nose and ears before offering a critique on a publication on integration of rhinoplasty (nose surgery) into cleft lip repair.  In addition to the traditional functions of cosmetic surgery, it is experiencing increased uptake for purely aesthetic reasons in Kenya, particularly after trauma to the facial structures in an ever increasing number of road traffic injuries. Emerging information in the question and answer session pointed out the need for further training to enhance the skills of the multidisciplinary maxillofacoial and plastic surgery teams.