RX for Your Health: Reconstructive Surgery

by | Oct 21, 2015 | Health & Fitness, Rx For Your Health

Dr. Kevin Small recently joined the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital. He is also on the Board of Directors of the AiRS Foundation — the Alliance in Reconstructive Surgery — an organization that is dedicated to providing financial assistance to help women feel whole again with restorative surgery after a mastectomy for breast cancer.

Kevin Small nyp

What are your goals for serving the community moving forward?

State-of-the-art plastic surgery is available at NewYork-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital for the million-plus people who live and work in Lower Manhattan. Our hospital remains the only acute care facility south of 14th Street. As such, the Plastic Surgery Division at NewYork-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital is the cornerstone of aesthetic excellence for our community. This campus is vital to meeting the plastic and reconstructive health care needs of all our neighbors.

What sort of unique benefits does NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital offer downtown Manhattan in the category of plastic surgery? 

My practice offers a comprehensive range of all major plastic and reconstructive services to patients in a caring, culturally sensitive environment, backed by the resources of a major academic medical center. I am committed to clinical and academic excellence, extending the many benefits of Weill Cornell Medical College, one of the top-ranked clinical and academic centers in the country, to all of my patients.

What are some of the newest treatment breakthroughs that you offer at the hospital? 

All plastic surgery procedures are available, including craniofacial surgery, breast reconstruction, trunk reconstruction and lower extremity reconstruction.  I also specialize in breast and body contouring, facial aesthetic surgery and minimally invasive cosmetic procedures, such as injectables and laser therapy. I have presented innovative advancements in these aesthetic subspecialties at local, national and international meetings, and published various articles in plastic surgery peer-reviewed collections. These details are available on my profile: https://weillcornell.org/kevinsmall.

What are the most popular elective procedures that you perform? 

The Plastic Surgery Division at NewYork-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital aims to become the leading center for post-bariatric body contouring in New York City. Among the most visible health trends of the last few decades has been the rising rate of obesity within the American population; one-third of Americans are considered obese. As a result, there has been an increase in bariatric surgery with approximately 179,000 gastric bypass, gastric banding and gastric sleeve procedures performed in the United States in 2013. Post surgery, these patients often present with significant skin and soft tissue excess, and 75 percent of these patients desire body-contouring surgery to remove this additional skin. Thousands of patients in the tristate area have had bariatric surgery, but have limited resources for treatment for the remaining skin. These patients have complex issues and require a multi-disciplinary, institutional approach to optimize safety, nutritional status, the quality of skin, recurrent laxity, surgical steps and post-surgical care. NewYork-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital hopes to provide a center of excellence for achieving dramatic and natural body contouring changes in the massive-weight-loss patient.

What is your opinion on surgical treatments compared to some of the other non-surgical options available?

According to the American Society of Plastic Surgery, minimally invasive procedures continue to rise in the United States. Last year, 6.7 million received Botulinum Toxin A (Botox), a 6 percent increase from 2013, and 2.3 million people received soft tissue fillers, a 3 percent increase from 2013.

Neurotoxins and fillers are popular because there are multiple safe and effective products available to consumers; thus, a customized treatment approach can be offered for individualized facial aging. These products can address a variety of issues such as facial wrinkles, deflated lips and the sagging cheek. These products have minimal down time and a low complication profile; as such, many can even be performed during a “lunch break.” Additionally, these anti-aging regimens are not only safe and effective, but also provide temporary, non-surgical rejuvenation, an ideal option for patients who may be hesitant about the permanence of surgery.   Fillers may even be used in the hands to mask the telltale signs of aging.

Transferring fat from other parts of your body has become an exciting alternative to bio-engineered fillers; recent studies have even suggested that fat transfer not only provides volumization, but anti-aging properties to the skin. All of the FDA-approved injectable products are available at the Plastic Surgery Division at NY-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital. Of note, neurotoxins and fillers do not correct all facial aging and more invasive surgical options may be recommended for optimal treatment.

Not only are various state-of-the-art, minimally invasive procedures available downtown, but also certain plastic surgery procedures have gained recent popularity. Over the past year, treatment of buttock aesthetics remains amongst the fastest growing procedures. Options include buttock augmentation with fat transfer, buttock silicone implants, and buttock lifts; these safe and effective procedures can restore a youthful contour to a woman’s profile.

Additionally, plastic surgery for men has continued to become more popular. Men are seeking to regain a more youthful look, improve their confidence and self-image and feel better about their overall appearance. Plastic surgeons have various procedures available to address these wishes. Besides a growing demand for injectables by men, the most popular invasive procedures include pectoralis implants and male breast reductions.

However, the top five most common plastic surgery aesthetic procedures performed last year include breast augmentation, nose reshaping, liposuction, eyelid surgery and facelifts. All procedures mentioned above are offered routinely at the Division of Plastic Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital.

The Division of Plastic Surgery at NY-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital equally offers aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgery procedures. In 2015, the American Cancer Society estimates 314,840 cases of invasive breast cancer will be newly diagnosed this year. Despite the prevalence of breast cancer and surgeries in the United States, less than 50 percent have reconstruction. This low incidence may be secondary to financial resources or plastic surgeon availability; however, studies have reported that breast reconstruction can greatly improve a patient’s quality of life and self-image   I am excited to report plastic surgeons nationwide have had a significant rise in breast reconstruction.

All breast reconstructive surgical options are available at the Division of Plastic Surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian/Lower Manhattan Hospital, including implant reconstruction and/or flap reconstruction.

 

To make an appointment, Dr. Small’s clinical office is located at 156 William Street on the 12th floor. He can be reached at (646) 962-5122.

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