Reconstructive surgery is, in its broadest sense, the use of surgery

Surgery

Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...

 to restore the form and function of the body, although Maxillo-Facial Surgeons, Plastic Surgeons and Otolaryngologists

Otolaryngology

Otolaryngology or ENT is the branch of medicine and surgery that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of ear, nose, throat, and head and neck disorders....

 do reconstructive surgery on faces after trauma and to reconstruct the head and neck after cancer.

Other branches of surgery (e.g., General surgery

General surgery

General surgery, despite its name, is a surgical specialty that focuses on abdominal organs, e.g., intestines including esophagus, stomach, small bowel, colon, liver, pancreas, gallbladder and bile ducts, and often the thyroid gland . They also deal with diseases involving the skin, breast, soft...

, gynecological surgery

Gynecological surgery

Gynecological surgery refers to surgery on the female reproductive system. Gynecological surgery is usually performed by gynecologists. It includes procedures for benign conditions, cancer, infertility, and incontinence, and various other conditions. Gynecological surgery may occasionally be...

, pediatric surgery

Pediatric surgery

Pediatric surgery or paediatric surgery is a subspecialty of surgery involving the surgery of fetuses, infants, children, adolescents, and young adults...

, cosmetic surgery) also perform some reconstructive procedures. The common feature is that the operation attempts to restore the anatomy or the function of the body part to normal.

Reconstructive plastic surgeons use the concept of a reconstructive ladder

Reconstructive ladder

The reconstructive ladder is a term coined by reconstructive plastic surgeons to describe levels of increasingly complex management of wounds. The surgeon should start on the lowest rung and move up until a suitable technique is arrived at.-The ladder:...

to manage increasingly complex wounds. This ranges from very simple techniques such as primary closure and dressings to more complex skin grafts, tissue expansion and free flaps.

Cosmetic Surgery procedures including breast enhancement, reduction and lift, face lift, forehead lift

Forehead lift

A forehead lift, also known as a browlift or browplasty, is a cosmetic surgery procedure used to elevate a drooping eyebrow that may obstruct vision and/or to remove the deep “worry” lines that run across the forehead and may portray to others anger, sternness, hostility, fatigue or other...

, upper and lower eyelid surgery (Blepharoplasty

Blepharoplasty

Blepharoplasty is surgical modification of the eyelid. Excess tissue such as skin and fat are removed or repositioned, and surrounding muscles and tendons may be reinforced. It can be both a functional and cosmetic surgery.-Indications:...

), laser skin resurfacing (Laser resurfacing), chemical peel

Chemical peel

A chemical peel is a body treatment technique used to improve and smooth the texture of the facial skin using a chemical solution that causes the dead skin to slough off and eventually peel off. The regenerated skin is usually smoother and less wrinkled than the old skin. Thus the term chemical...

, nose reshaping (Rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty

Rhinoplasty , also nose job, is a plastic surgery procedure for correcting and reconstructing the form, restoring the functions, and aesthetically enhancing the nose, by resolving nasal trauma , congenital defect, respiratory impediment, and a failed primary rhinoplasty...

), and reconstruction liposuction

Liposuction

Liposuction, also known as lipoplasty , liposculpture suction lipectomy or simply lipo is a cosmetic surgery operation that removes fat from many different sites on the human body...

Nasal reconstruction using the paramedian flap, as well as tummy tuck (Abdominoplasty

Abdominoplasty

Abdominoplasty or "tummy tuck" is a cosmetic surgery procedure used to make the abdomen more firm. The surgery involves the removal of excess skin and fat from the middle and lower abdomen in order to tighten the muscle and fascia of the abdominal wall...

).

Many of these procedures are constantly being improved. Recent literature in medline also has noted implementation of Barbed suture

Barbed suture

A barbed suture is a type of knotless surgical suture that has barbs on its surface. While suturing tissue, these barbs penetrate inside the tissue and lock them in place, eliminating the need for knots to tie the suture. Conventional sutures rely on a surgeon's ability to to tie secure knots,...

in these procedures