DOI: 10.7910/dvn/oc8d3s
title: The Art of Tissue-Engineered Solutions in Reconstructive Plastic Surgery: An Ultimate Guide

description: Injuries, diseases, cancers, and congenital deformities end up destroying the affected parts of the human body, resulting in loss of shape and function. Reconstructive plastic surgery is an excellent tool to provide living tissues from another part of the body and restore the body's shape and function. Top reconstructive plastic surgeons performing these surgeries opine that at present, advanced methods of reconstruction are fairly complex and that they often distort the original anatomical shape of the human body. The application of stem cells for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine is rapidly growing. The fact that the stem cells are generated from the patients' somatic tissues, results in a better acceptance by the immune system and avoids rejection problems observed with transplants from other people or cadaveric donors. In addition, the use of autologous cells may have therapeutic advantages over allogeneic transplantable tissues. Autologous donor tissue is not rejected by the recipient since they are identical and have no sensitization to foreign antigens. Hundreds of thousands of reconstructive procedures are performed each year with tissue-engineered solutions. These include burn victims, patients with body defects following injuries, different types of cancer reconstruction, and more. In addition to their clinical applications, many of these engineered tissues have been used in preclinical models for drug discovery and toxicological testing because they closely mimic native tissues in terms of protein structure and mechanical properties. In the present day, top reconstructive plastic surgeons are performing many more microvascular surgeries and free tissue transplants than they did in the past. Composite tissue transplant is an even more complex surgery that has become a reality in the last decade. Examples of this complex surgery are face transplants and hand transplants. These procedures need advanced setup, requirements, and arrangements and can only be performed in a few well-established big hospitals. Techniques of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine aim to simplify these complexities. Advances in biomedical science have been made to provide the human body with alternative sources of viable, functioning tissues. Tissues built inside the lab would integrate into the body seamlessly and enhance its function. These advances are in nanotechnology, 3D bioprinting, cell biology, biomaterials, and microsurgery with vascular constructs. Treatment options are broadening because of these advances. Across the world, a majority of plastic surgeons work on cancer reconstruction and wound healing. Only a small percentage works on cosmetic surgery. Worldwide, the need for human body reconstruction is enormous due to the prevalence of cancer and chronic wounds, but the donor tissue sites within the body are limited. The impact of proper wound management on global public health is immense. Following an organ failure or major tissue destruction, only a limited number of cadaver donors or donor tissues within a person’s own body are available to overcome these deficiencies. Scientists are adopting different approaches to deal with this problem. Of all the approaches, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are the most promising. A paradigm shift in reconstructive plastic surgery will happen once tissue engineering and regenerative medicine principles get more widely adopted. Adopting these principles would cut the need for donor sites from the body and cadavers. It will reduce the morbidity of treatment, hospital stay, duration of surgeries, and costs of treatment. Tissue engineering is a modern and rapidly evolving field that combines the principles of engineering, physics, and life sciences. Sharing commonality with reconstructive plastic surgery, its goal is to restore the form and function of the human body with newly generated tissues. The long-term goal of tissue engineering is to use biotechnology to manufacture autologous, vascularized, physiologically relevant solutions for the repair and recovery of complex defects in the human body. Manufacturing through biotechnology is successful when the right combination of cellular source, scaffolding material, and microenvironment are used. The answers to these questions are based on collaboration between biologists, material scientists, and medical professionals. Expansion in the health care industry requires close interaction with other industries like cellular therapy and related industries. Some prominent societies and associations of Plastic Surgery like ASAPS have noted and highlighted the role of tissue engineering in shaping the future of plastic surgery. They observed that tissue engineering is essential to developing new methods and protocols for reconstructive plastic surgery and that their focus should be on translating laboratory research into clinical practice by conducting clinical trials. Some governments like that in the United Kingdom have recognized the potential that regenerative medicine has to have an impact on healthcare. Understanding current shortcomings, they have emphasized the current general lack of coordination in this area. Their report proposed recommendations including the formation of multidisciplinary working groups (scientists, doctors, investors, manufacturing experts, and regulators), as well as government-funded initiatives to advance the future of regenerative medicine. Although tissue engineering is a promising field, we need to be realistic about our goals. Implants in immunocompetent animal models have observed that with our current tissue-engineered organ constructs, the animals experience inflammation, fibrosis, foreign body reactions, and degradation. One of the main problems remains the vascularization of large-volume constructs, without which, these solutions would be a failure. Another problem that appears in modern literature is the potential for tumor growth. Conclusion: Tissue engineering is a relatively new field of medicine that has seen rapid growth in the last few decades. New developments in tissue engineering are being made every day, and we will likely see even more exciting breakthroughs soon. To learn more about this fascinating way to treat wounds and injuries, check out our other articles and resources today!