Plastic Surgery

The Pediatric Plastic Surgery Department at St. Louis Children's Hospital provides care for a full spectrum of congenital and acquired deformities, as well as focused services in four areas:

1. Cleft Lip/Palate and other craniofacial birth defects
   The Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Institute offers evaluation, diagnosis and treatment for congenital and acquired head and neck deformities.
2. Congenital and acquired hand defects
   Hand problems managed by our specialty surgeons and hand rehabilitation unit range from lacerations of tendons and fractured bones, to reconstruction of missing parts by transferring tissue from another area of the body such as the toe-to-hand for a missing finger.
3. Blood vessel malformations
   Blood vessel malformation affects the arteries, the veins and the lymphatics. A multidisciplinary vascular anomalies team, consisting of specialists from plastic surgery, pediatric dermatology, radiology and pediatric general surgery, meet to evaluate, treat and follow patients with these problems.
4. Adolescent cosmetic surgery of the face and breasts
   Some adolescents are dissatisfied with the appearance of their nose, ears or lips and seek surgery to make them more pleasing to themselves. Others have breast or chest problems such as breast asymmetry, underdevelopment and massive overgrowth in girls or gynecomastia (overgrowth) in boys. Reconstructive surgery is an appropriate solution for such problems when well thought out by the affected teen, the parents and the surgeon.

Conditions treated

• Breast abnormalities
• Brachial plexus palsy
• Craniosynostosis
• Cutaneous and subcutaneous tumors of the trunk and extremities
• Ear deformities, congenital or traumatic
• Facial fractures
• Facial paralysis
• Hand surgery, congenital, e.g., syndactyly, absent digits, extra digits; and acquired repair of tendons, nerves and fractures
• Jaw deformities
• Keloids and other scars
• Major skin and/or soft tissue defects
• Midfacial hypoplasia
• Nasal deformity, congenital or traumatic, and rhinoplasty
• Plagiocephaly
• Reconstructive surgery of burn deformities
• Reconstructive surgery of congenital and acquired deformities
• Skin lesions, pigmented nevi, hemangiomas, lymphangiomas
• Tumors of the head and neck

Additional resources

• Department of Pediatric Plastic Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine