Aesthetic Surgery: State of the art

Abstract

The 40th Anniversary of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) represents a milestone in the history of plastic surgery—a history that stretches back more than 50 centuries yet, as we know, has evolved primarily during the last 100 years. Arguably, the rapid evolution of aesthetic surgery coincides fairly well with the founding of ASAPS in 1967, and the current “state of the art” has been greatly influenced by the vision of ASAPS' founding members, who sought to encourage the advancement of aesthetic surgery as a scientific discipline. The founders of ASAPS lived in a world where the concept of “appearance surgery” was regarded with disdain by most medical colleagues—even fellow plastic surgeons. In those days, a “plastic surgeon” was a reconstructive surgeon. Today, however, aesthetic surgery has assumed a respected position within plastic surgery—in fact, many would argue that it has become the dominant force within the specialty. Even more important, the entire concept of plastic surgery has changed. Reconstructive surgeons no longer consider achieving normal or near-normal function to be enough; they are equally concerned with aesthetic outcomes. Likewise, aesthetic surgery, …