A 10-year-old boy, who suffered severe facial injuries from an animal bite, has undergone a successful microsurgical reconstruction of his nose and upper lip, aided by 3D-printed models. The complex operation was performed by the plastic surgery team at the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome. The child was brought to Italy from India with a severe mutilation.
“Not only have we restored a fundamental part of the child’s physical appearance,” explained Mario Zama, head of the hospital’s Complex Operative Unit of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery, “but we have given him back the possibility of living a more peaceful and dignified life.” The surgeons consulted with specialists from the Advanced Cardio-Thoraco-Vascular and Fetal Imaging Unit, led by Aurelio Secinaro.
“The 3D models allowed us to precisely reconstruct the nasal anatomy and support the surgeons in planning the operation,” commented Secinaro. “This is a concrete example of how technology can improve the efficacy and safety of care in the most complex pediatric cases.”
The upper lip was reconstructed using a technique similar to that for a cleft lip and palate. For the nose, the internal mucosa, external skin, and skeletal structure were all rebuilt. A flap of tissue from the wrist was microsurgically connected to facial blood vessels, and a flap from the forehead was shaped on a 3D model to reconstruct the external part. After three weeks, the nasal structure was completed with rib cartilage grafts.
“With these procedures, we managed to rebuild the child’s nose from scratch,” concluded Mario Zama. “This is an exceptional result made possible by the close collaboration between plastic surgeons, engineers, radiologists, anesthesiologists, intensivists, and other hospital specialists who applied the most advanced surgical techniques and used 3D technology to plan the operation and improve the outcomes.”
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