This April, a medical team of 19—including four facial plastic and reconstructive surgeons, members of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS)—traveled to the Ukraine to repair complex facial injuries sustained in war. This is the second FACE TO FACE mission trip to Ukraine in the last seven months; in September 2022, a team of surgeons spent nine days in the country on a similar mission. The team will travel to Lviv, Ukraine. There, they’ll work alongside Ukrainian physicians by official invitation from the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
The F2F humanitarian programs allow AAFPRS members to use their surgical skills and expertise to help those who are in need domestically and abroad. These physicians and support staff provide their services pro bono and self-fund much of the costs for the expensive medical supplies and equipment needed. F2F programs are conducted under the auspices of the Educational and Research Foundation for the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS Foundation).
This mission aims to serve approximately 25-30 patients, mostly soldiers and civilians injured in the war, with complex facial injuries. The travel team of experts will also be teaching local surgeons complex reconstructive surgery techniques including microvascular tissue transplants (for instance using the fibula bone in the leg to rebuild missing parts of the jaw and facial skeleton) using custom 3-D implants to precisely replace missing tissue.