Reconstructive Microsurgery at Penn Medicine

Joseph Serletti, MD, FACS, Chief of the Division of the Plastic Surgery, and Stephen Kovach, MD, Penn plastic surgeon, explain how reconstructive microsurgery is changing the lives of trauma victims and cancer patients.

During this complex procedure, surgeons take bone, muscle and skin from one part of the body to fill a defect in another area. The blood vessels from this "flap" are reattached and the transplanted tissue lives on in its new location.

After Megan was diagnosed with sarcoma, she was told the only way to survive would be to have her leg amputated. She decided instead to seek out experts from Penn. Here, a team of oncologists, orthapaedic specialists and microsurgeons came together to not only save her leg but completely reconstruct it, so she would be able to continue as an athlete. With microsurgery, her scars aren't even visible.

Microsurgery can be used all over the body. At Penn, our surgeons work with patients to find safe and creative ways for microsurgery to restore appearance and function. We created the Penn Institute for Reconstructive Microsurgery to bring everyone across the health system who practices microsurgery together to save more lives and give people a better quality of life.

Learn more about reconstructive microsurgery: pennmedicine.org/microsurgery
Learn more about cancer treatments at Penn: cureiswithin.org
Meet Plastic Surgery Chief, Dr. Joseph Serletti: http://bit.ly/serletti
Meet reconstruction microsurgeon, Dr. Stephen Kovach: http://bit.ly/kovach
Watch Megan's full story: http://bit.ly/MeganDychala

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