THE GUINEA PIG CLUB BY NUMBERS
A specialist medical team in a Sussex market town gave burned ser vicemen the best chance of rehabilitation. John Ash unpicks the numbers behind a pioneering clinician and his stoic patients
THE ‘BIG 4’ PL ASTIC SURGEONS
Although records of plastic surgery have been discovered from the great civilisations of antiquity, it is a medical discipline that is inherently modern. An early example of plastic surgery (a rhinoplasty) was performed by Joseph Carpue on the nose of a British officer in 1814, but such treatment came of age during World War One.
In that conflict, modern weaponry, the sheer number of combatants and trench warfare contributed to higher occurrences of severe head, face and neck injuries – even more so once steel helmets were issued, an indication of their life-saving utility. However, the often large and usually contaminated wounds sustained could be difficult to treat and slow to heal, causing tight scars, severe disfigurement and pain. New Zealand-born (Sir) Harold Gillies, who served with the Royal Army Medical Corps, is considered the father of plastic surgery. Inspired by French surgeons, he persuaded the army’s chief surgeon, William Arbuthnot-Lan…
