Plastic surgeons continue to contribute to the treatment of earthquake victims

President of the Turkish Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery Association, Prof. Dr. Cenk Demirdöver stated that after the earthquakes in Kahramanmaraş on February 6, their associations met urgently and determined a strategy.

Demirdöver stated that they sent both plastic surgery team and medical supplies, devices and surgical instruments to the region on the first day, and noted that they sent volunteer plastic surgeons from different provinces to earthquake zones every day with the knowledge of the Ministry of Health.

Emphasizing that the physicians assist the physicians both in field hospitals and in hospitals operating in the surrounding provinces that were not affected by the earthquake, Demirdöver said:

“People who are trapped under the debris in major disasters such as earthquakes and whose arms or legs are stuck in the wreckage after they are removed from the wreckage have circulation problems. This circulation needs to be loosened. In the first place, these loosening surgeries were performed. Not only that, the facial bone fractures, where the ends of the bones are exposed, are covered with microsurgical methods. “We had the patients we needed. Many surgeries were performed, including these kinds of surgeries.”

“OUR SURGERIES PLAYED AN EFFECTIVE ROLE IN THE TREATMENT PROCESS IN EARTHQUAKE REGIONS”

Pointing out the importance of rapid intervention, Demirdöver said, “Our plastic surgeons played an active role in the treatment process in earthquake zones. We sent more than 65 volunteer plastic surgeons to the provinces affected by the earthquake on a rotating basis. We tried to support the physicians in the region 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

Demirdöver, explaining that disaster victims who had major operations were followed up, continued his words as follows: “Sometimes, these were not procedures that would end with a single operation, additional surgeries were required. We continue their treatment processes by organizing their referral to hospitals in larger cities. When plastic surgery is mentioned, our people mostly interpret aesthetic surgery. “We perform all plastic surgery operations on the head, neck and extremities that deal with the entire outer surface of our body. Hand surgery and microsurgery are sub-branches of plastic surgeons.”