Innovation in Aesthetic Plastic Surgery: An International Collaborative Effort

An overview of the importance of international contributions to the advancement of aesthetic plastic surgery is presented, with emphasis on why, how and where in our specialty does innovation take place. The reason for innovating is clear: to improve on the quality of care patients receive today, through research and education. In order to do so, innovators must be either visionaries, advancers or popularizers of a new technique and they must have an exhaustive knowledge in a specific field, an intrinsic motivation to pursue work in that field and a capacity to solve problems in an original way. The four areas of advancement in aesthetic plastic surgery are outlined, including better aesthetic results, better and faster patient recovery, increased patient safety and better surgeon experience. The three stages of development of our specialty are described as well, beginning with the creation stage in the late 1870s, in which the correction of evidently altered structures was undertaken; the establishment stage, which began in the late 1960s with the study and correction of surgical stigmata, the detailed analysis of surface aesthetics and later with the rise of minimally invasive procedures; and finally, the refinement stage that we have witnessed over the past few years, in which natural movement and feel are also considered essential in order to achieve successful aesthetic outcomes.