What do we do?
In recent years aesthetic surgery, despite being only a minor branch of the much wider discipline of plastic surgery, has been widely covered by the media. However, before delving into this popular area of our specialty, it is useful to consider the main focal areas of plastic surgery.
Plastic surgery is often considered to be a recent and luxury surgery, while in fact reconstructive operations have been undertaken for centuries. Ancient Indian texts from 600 B.C. already refer to a nasal reconstruction technique using a forehead flap. This technique was reintroduced by British colonialists in the 19th Century and, to this day, it is known as the ‘Indian Flap’ and continues to be widely applied as a corrective method.
The World Health Organisation defines health not only as ‘not being ill’, but also as a condition of mental and social wellbeing. It is our conviction as plastic surgeons that we can interact positively with both facets of this definition. Despite the often biased reports about our specialty, we continue to believe in its relevance for society. Most of our colleagues are unhappy about the increasing commercialization of our profession.
The origins
Prof. P. Wylock was among the pioneers who initiated the Plastic Surgery Unit at the beginning of 1979, when the hospital was barely two years old.
He started from scratch, facing a huge challenge, and was assigned a desk and a chair in the same office as his colleague R. Sacre, who was head of the Oncology Surgery Unit in the Surgical Department (headed by Prof. R. Kiekens).
Given that the surgical ward only opened in 1980, operations had to be conducted in the delivery ward, often using a mere portable lamp. Di. P. Wylock had only recently completed his training in the renowned service of Prof. G. Matton in Ghent. At that time, he was the only Dutch-language Plastic Surgeon in Brussels. He launched a general Plastics practice and was also highly interested in hand surgery.
In 1982 he was awarded the prize of the Belgian Hand Group to mark this association’s 10th anniversary, in recognition of his study on Dupuytren’s Disease. This amounted to the start of a remarkable Dupuytren trajectory, culminating in the thousandth operation on a Dupuytren patient in December 2006. Upon his appointment as Tutor in 1986, he started training competent Plastic Surgeons, totalling 11 and including 2 foreign physicians, who have all since gone on to run their own flourishing practices. 1990 saw the launch of the Schisis Team, coordinated by Dr. G. Mulle, jointly with the departments of Stomatology, Ear, Nose & Throat, Medical Genetics, Paediatrics, as well as a welfare nurse and a speech therapist.
In 1982 he was awarded the prize of the Belgian Hand Group to mark this association’s 10th anniversary, in recognition of his study on Dupuytren’s Disease. This amounted to the start of a remarkable Dupuytren trajectory, culminating in the thousandth operation on a Dupuytren patient in December 2006. Upon his appointment as Tutor in 1986, he started training competent Plastic Surgeons, totalling 11 and including 2 foreign physicians, who have all since gone on to run their own flourishing practices. 1990 saw the launch of the Schisis Team, coordinated by Dr. G. Mulle, jointly with the departments of Stomatology, Ear, Nose & Throat, Medical Genetics, Paediatrics, as well as a welfare nurse and a speech therapist.