Lucknow: Getting that perfect look has never gone out of fashion. Who knows it better than Dr. Vaibhav Khanna who has been tirelessly serving patients for the past 3 decades across top medical institutions in the city. But with the urgency to look prim and proper, one must not try and tinker with one’s natural demeanour. Dr. Vaibhav Khanna says that unless its a matter of life and death and one’s life is dependent on a critical procedure ideas like botox, fillers, lip jobs and breast implants should be avoided because it might have an adverse impact on the human body.
Dr. Khanna is however proud of his brainchild Smile Train India which has touched a zillion lives who were facing issue of the much talked about cleft lip.
Dr Khanna points out – Plastic surgery remains a very confusing process for many, while there is cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery, plastic surgery is a complete reconstruction. He says it is a branch where you cater from scalp hair to toe level. The person doing the process would actually divide the body and plan accordingly. He says it is a basic way to reconstruct and then change the outlook of the body or a specific body part.
Among the myriad problems that have surfaced in the recent years has been the problem of cleft lip and palette. Treated by a team of experts, restoring a person’s confidence and his or her overall persona helping connect with the society better. Leading that mission has been Smile Train India which has transformed lives through correcting the cleft lip. In the past 18 years Dr. Vaibhav Khanna has treated around 20,000 patients. When it comes to Smile Train there are more than 2 lakh procedures that have been done in UP alone.
Commonly seen as a congenital defect in patients, the focus according to Dr. Vaibhav Khanna is to do the operation at the right time at the best place with the best expert on offer. He says the efficiency of the procedure is such that in a time frame of 9 to 12 months the person can easily get his restored speech back on track. But Dr. Khanna warns the reconstruction does not come without challenges. The problem of severe injury has to be dealt with very carefully. Referring to vascular imagery, bone, body, soft tissue, patients fracture has to be treated and damage tissues need to be repaired.
Dr. Khanna says that a patient comes to emergency with acute vascular injury he can also come with arterial injury and other problems. It needs attention within 5 to 6 hours. It can be an amputation or it can be severe injury. It can be washed with water, wrapped in a cloth, the limb is then kept in a bag, the bag is kept in a container with ice and one must ensure that there is no contact between the limb and the ice.
The idea is to just maintain a cool environment. In case of severed limbs, basic treatment is required and the patient is sent to a centre immediately. In the recent times plastic surgery, micro vascular surgery and Orthopaedic surgery with advance technology are common place.
The doctor said that we can even cure a cut finger. Talking of other advanced problems he said that there are cases where the scalp and brain are exposed and traditionally when a internal body part is exposed, it is considered of no use.But saving that from turning into a major hassle is where the surgeon comes into play.
He said with tissue and other new advance technology, we make sure that the brain is covered and its functional. A lot of the cases revolve around – severe facial injuries, lungs, ear, moustache, cancer issues, cheek bones and local tissue.
The micro vascular free flap surgery is now changing the scenario. Before the 90s, sourcing the right kind of tissue was a major bottleneck. In the past 30 years, the tissue for reconstruction, tissue, bone, muscle, skin is now much easier to arrange for.
Dr Khanna said Robotics does not have much of a role but 3D imagery is quite the flavour of the day. He explains the role of 3D planning, implant of scalp, reconstructing the face and other aspects are always helpful.
He says that better than any other procedure, the tissue is better for any reconstructive process.
Dr. Vaibhav Khanna is an MS Surgery and he is an M. Ch in plastic surgery. Starting life in 1995, he boasts of a collective work experience of 30 years.
