Welcome to the new millennium. Cosmetic Plastic Surgery is a rapidly changing field. In the last couple of years, many new techniques and many more doctors professing expertise have entered the field. This newsletter has been prepared as a public education service to prepare potential patients for the present and the future.

Cosmetic Surgicentre Receives 3 Year Accreditation

There was no Canadian accreditation for private ambulatory surgical facilities fifteen years ago when Toronto’s Cosmetic Surgicentre was conceived and built. With the help of the AAAAPSF (American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Plastic Surgery Facilities) and a Canadian architect, Dr. Robert H. Stubbs established Toronto’s first truly cosmetic ambulatory surgical facility.

Similar to the American experience, ambulatory surgery has become the most popular option for an elective procedure. Outpatient or ambulatory surgery is safe, private and cost effective. As such, it lends itself perfectly to cosmetic surgery.

Unfortunately quality control, which is strictly adhered to in public hospitals was difficult to regulate in Canadian outpatient units. Uncertified surgeons (such as family doctors, dermatologists and anesthetists) and those unable to perform specific procedures at the hospital where they held admitting privileges (such as ENT surgeons who wish to do breast and body contour surgery) opened ambulatory centres in record numbers.

The Canadian Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (CAAASF) is a national organization that was recently formed to ensure that surgical procedures done outside a public hospital are performed safely and

carefully. Protecting the public from unqualified surgeons is an important CAAASF goal. But CAAASF accreditation also means that the facility has been inspected and that the unit, the surgeon, the staff, the equipment, the emergency protocol and the record keeping all meet or exceed the current standard.

Cosmetic Surgicentre is now one of a limited number of Canadian private facilities that has accreditation. It was recently awarded this honor for a three-year period. If you are considering having cosmetic surgery in a private office, make sure that the unit has CAAASF accreditation.

PSURG Website Wins Award

Cosmetic Surgicentre’s website has had over 250,000 visitors to its front page alone in the last three years.

Because its content is educational and not commercial, Sympatico Healthyway awarded it a best of the web recently.

The section on how to find a Plastic Surgeon is very popular. This fact did not go unnoticed by an American website which stole the page. The Globe and Mail reported the theft in a front-page article.

Breast Augmentation

Augmentation mammaplasty has more than doubled in the last couple of years. Now that the silicone implant controversy has finally been settled, patients are more comfortable with the decision to proceed with surgery.

Exhausting independent studies have come up with the following conclusions –

• There is no evidence that silicone implants are responsible for any major diseases of the whole body. Humans are exposed to silicone constantly in their daily lives.
• There is no plausible evidence of a novel autoimmune disease because of the implants.
• There is no increase in either preliminary or recurrent breast cancer in women with breast implants. Some studies even suggest lower rates of breast cancer in implanted women.
• There is no danger in breast-feeding. Cow’s milk and infant formulas have a far higher level of silicon, a silicone component, than mother’s milk. Breast milk is the best food for babies.
• The major problems with breast implants are local, but not life-threatening, complications. These include implant removal, ruptures, deflations, capsular contractures, infection and pain.
• Implants do not last forever. Risks accumulate over time and many women should expect to have more than one implant.
• Although some women with breast implants are indeed very ill, there is no evidence that these patients are sick because of their implants.

The Tradition Lives On

"We restore, repair and make whole those parts…which nature has given but which fortune has taken away, not so much that they may delight the eye but that they may buoy up the spirit and help the mind of the afflicted"

Gaspar Tagliacozzi

1597

Surgicentre Commitment

From our concern for your medical needs to the discreet, professional atmosphere that you will find at the Surgicentre, Dr. Robert H. Stubbs and the staff provide each patient with the medical and emotional support required for recovery and lifestyle enhancement.

Do you need more information?

This newsletter was prepared by Dr. Robert H. Stubbs, a Canadian and American Board Certified Plastic Surgeon. It is meant to be an up-date and not an all-inclusive review.

If you have any further interest in the topics or other procedures that we perform, then please feel free to call our office at 416-927-9900 or visit our website.

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