What is Airway Reconstruction Surgery?
In Airway Reconstruction Surgery, some children and adults suffer from complex conditions that affect the airway. The human airway includes the air passages from the nose to the floor of the lungs. Specifically, the larynx (voice box) and trachea (windpipe) may be malformed, deformed, or diseased, causing a critical obstruction in breathing.
This can be fatal in many cases. There are multiple common procedures to the nose, mouth and throat to improve the upper airway, and there are some very specific complex procedures that have been designed to reconstruct the larynx and trachea.
Grafts from the ribs can be harvested, crafted and tailored to reconstruct and augment the framework of the larynx and trachea. The goal of surgery is to reconstruct and improve the airway to allow for normal breathing, preserving the voice.
What is Sleep Surgery?
Children and adults can suffer from Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA), which is obstructed snoring with oxygen desaturations. OSA has significant cardiovascular and respiratory effects in adults, while in children OSA causes potential neurocognitive and behavioural issues.
OSA is not uncommon in children and especially in those with Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21) and other Craniofacial Syndromes. Multiple procedures are available beyond a routine Adenotonsillectomy to resolve specific obstructions anywhere along the airway during sleep.
We can specifically operate on the palate, pharynx (throat) or tongue to improve the airway. In a way, sleep surgery is a component of Airway Surgery.
What is Head & Neck Surgery?
There are multiple conditions affecting the Head and Neck region, including the thyroid, salivary glands, skin, oral conditions, neck infections, lumps and bumps. In the adult population, Head and Neck cancer refers to a heterogenous population of various kinds of cancer affecting the skin, nose, sinuses, mouth, larynx and throat.
Each anatomical site may give rise to unique cancerous conditions with unique pathways of cancer spread and therefore very specific individualized treatment strategies. Children do get tumour and cancer of the Head & Neck too, which pose unique challenges to management.
In addition, there are other congenital conditions that uniquely affect children such as branchial arch anomalies, vascular anomalies, lymphovascular malformation, excessive drooling, and thyroid diseases.
What is Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery?
Facial Plastic surgery refers to any surgery that will change the shape and function of the face.
All surgery is a collision of evidence-based science and artistic mastery. This is especially true in Facial Plastic Surgery.
A face affected by cancer, disease or trauma can be made more aesthetic for the patient.
This is critical to the patient’s sense of self and quality of life.
Common procedures include rhinoplasty to improve the breathing and appearance of the nose, blepharoplasty to improve the appearance of the eyes, otoplasty to correct dislocated “bat” ears and other ear deformities, and local and regional softness.
Eric is dedicated to the restoration of aesthetic appearance for patients whose faces have been affected by disease or trauma.
