Plastic Surgery

The Department of Plastic Surgery at the Samsung Medical Center was established with the opening of the center in 1994, and performs more than 3,700 cases of surgery for approximately, 1,000 inpatients and 18,000 outpatients annually, to provide top-class medical service in Korea. The Department of Plastic Surgery is first-rate not only for its quantity but also its quality, and we provide comprehensive medical care including multi-disciplinary practice in the field of plastic surgery with distinguished, world-renowned, medical personnel. We also make efforts to develop new techniques and treatment methods with the provision of our expert and specialized medical service to provide our clients with optimal surgical results, and meet their various demands to seek happiness beyond satisfaction while making efforts to establish a healthy culture for plastic surgery.

Major areas of treatment / Clinics

The Department of Plastic Surgery runs specialized clinics in each field including a breast reconstruction clinic, mammoplasty clinic, microtia clinic, craniofacial clinic, facial nerve palsy clinic, malignant melanoma clinic, lower limb reconstruction clinic, vascular malformation clinic, and laser clinic. We provide specialized treatment for our clients through these centers, and make efforts to satisfy the ever-growing and diversifying needs in the field of reconstructive and aesthetic surgery.

Strong points

The Breast Reconstruction Clinic at the Samsung Medical Center performs over 400 cases/year of individualized breast reconstruction for patients who undergo mastectomy for breast cancer through a multi-disciplinary collaborative approach with the Departments of Breast Surgery, Hematology and Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Radiology, and Pathology, as various methods of breast reconstruction have become possible using autologous tissue or implants. In our department we provide world-class treatment by performing breast reconstruction using safe and aesthetic breast implants and deep inferior epigastric artery perforator free flaps, in which we do not have to sacrifice abdominal muscles and use only the abdominal skin and fat.
We also have Korea’s biggest congenital malformation and ear deformity clinic, where we perform over 120 cases/year of ear reconstruction for patients with microtia and acquired ear deformities.
We perform over 150 cases/year of reconstructive surgery using free flaps for defects and deformities of the breast-torso, foot-lower extremity, and head and neck. Technically demanding one-stage reanimation surgery for facial nerve paralysis patients using latissimus dorsi muscle is popularly performed in our department.
We also actively participate in the Malignant Melanoma Clinic to provide multi-disciplinary collaborative treatment. We safely excise malignant melanomas and perform reconstruction while conserving limbs without amputation to improve the post-operative quality of life of patients, and run the Malignant Melanoma Clinic, which is the biggest in the nation, through collaboration with the Departments of Dermatology, Radiology, Hematology and Oncology, Radiation oncology, and Pathology.
The Department of Plastic Surgery at the Samsung Medical Center makes efforts to break the boundaries of simple medical care and moves closer to our clients through social volunteering. We have performed more than 1,900 cases of surgery and procedures for around 700 pediatric patients to give new hope to children who are suffering from congenital malformations or acquired deformities of the face and ear since 2004.

Latest treatment methods

In the Department of Plastic Surgery, we are doing active research and performing evidence-based reconstructive treatment in: breast reconstruction using deep inferior epigastric artery perforator free flaps, breast reconstruction using latissimus dorsi muscle sparing musculocutaneous flaps and implants, auricular reconstruction using autologous rib cartilage followed by rib chondroplasty using allogenic cartilage, breast reconstruction using allogenic dermis (acellular dermal matrix) and implants, and safe excision of malignant melanomas while preserving the finger or toe with reconstruction using superficial circumflex iliac artery perforator free flap from the groin, latissimus dorsi muscle one-stage neuromuscular transfer for facial paralysis treatment.

Recent trends in clinical research

In the Department of Plastic Surgery at the Samsung Medical Center we are making efforts to carry out research on methods to perform aesthetically satisfying, symmetric reconstruction using deep inferior epigastric artery perforator free flaps, breast reconstruction using allogenic dermis and tissue expanders, methods to decrease complications and pain in ear reconstruction using autologous rib cartilage, recent trends in various perforator free flaps, methods to safely excise lesions of subungual malignant melanoma while preserving the finger or toe, and clinical application of adipose stem cells in plastic surgery.