Research areas and methodologies

The UOC of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery ofUCBM is responsible for:

Oncological surgery of the skin and soft tissues

  • Screening, diagnosis and treatment of melanocytic and non-melanocytic tumors and sarcomas 
  • Integrated pathways (PDTA) with multidisciplinary groups for the adjuvant treatment of advanced stages and fragile patients 
  • Morpho-functional reconstruction of the districts: cephalic end, trunk, limbs, genitals 

Breast surgery

  • Integrated pathways (PDTA) with multidisciplinary groups for the joint and synergistic treatment of breast cancer
    • Post-oncological reconstruction with prostheses and tissue expanders (immediate, deferred, prepectoral, submuscular)
    • Reconstructions with matrices 
    • Hybrid reconstructions 
    • Autologous breast reconstruction after mastectomy with microsurgical flaps (DIEP flap-PAP flap) and with locoregional flaps (LD KISS flap, LD flap + Lipofilling)
    • Autologous breast reconstruction after quadrantectomy with local perforator flaps (TDAP flap-LICAP flap-AICAP flap-MiniLD Flap)
    • Fat grafts (lipofilling for RT outcomes, correction of tertiary defects, volumetric integration in autologous reconstructions) 
  • Correction of breast malformations (tuberous, tubular, Poland, hypertrophy, gynecomastia, asymmetry)
  • Screening and treatment of periprosthetic capsule pathology 

Microsurgery

  • Post-oncological or post-traumatic morpho-functional reconstructions of the cephalic district - trunk and limbs (perforator flaps, musculocutaneous flaps)
  • Breast reconstruction (DIEP flap-PAP flap)
  • Functional reconstruction of muscle units after removal of sarcomas of the limbs or trunk (Free Functional Muscle Transfers)
  • Treatment of osteomyelitis of the upper and lower limb with microsurgical flaps (Fibula flap)
  • Lower limb reconstruction in patient with comorbidities (diabetic foot, peripheral vascular disease)
  • Propeller and Free Style perforating flaps
  • Nerve injury repair 

Treatment of difficult wounds and regenerative medicine 

  • Screening and reconstructive procedures for ulcers of vascular, diabetic and decubitus etiology
  • Burns
  • Advanced negative pressure dressings
  • autologous fat implant 
  • Lipofilling combined with Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)

Surgery for the outcomes of morbid obesity

  • Correction of post-bariatric cervico-facial deformities
  • Correction of post-bariatric female breast deformities
  • Correction of post-bariatric male breast deformities
  • Torsoplasty 
  • Brachioplasty 
  • Abdominoplasty 
  • Puboplasty
  • Correction of post-bariatric female genital deformities
  • Correction of post-bariatric male genital deformities 
  • Flankplasty 
  • Gluteoplasty 
  • Multiphasic correction of post-bariatric thigh deformities
  • Perforator flaps combined with filoplasty procedures

Functional and Aesthetic Surgery of all districts:

  • Rhinoplasty
  • Blepharoplasty, 
  • Lifting cervico-facial, 
  • Otoplasty
  • Breast augmentation
  • Mastopexy
  • Reduction mammaplasty
  • Correction of diastasis recti muscles
  • Abdominoplasty
  • Liposuction

Aesthetic Medicine 

Fillers

Botulinum toxin

Application of regenerative medicine in ringskin rejuvenation

Application of regenerative medicine in the treatment of acne scars

Treatment of complications from infiltration and identification of substances 

Laser Therapy 

For the treatment of 

angiomas and vascular lesions
warty lesions of the skin

skin spots
scars
facial aging
hypertrichosis and very hirsute

ETHICS AND AESTHETICS in plastic surgery a transversal EBM centered approach

Proposal of an ethically based deontological and healthcare approach that includes a clinical and research methodology based on Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) focused on the centrality of the individual. 

• Ethics and aesthetics in medicine with particular application in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

• The ethical and aesthetic value of beauty: objective indication for cosmetic surgery.

DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF PROMs

  • Development, validation and application of investigation methods (PROMs Patient Reported Outcomes Measures) in order to evaluate the impact of reconstructive and aesthetic plastic surgery procedures performed on the level of satisfaction perceived by the patient and on the change in their quality of life determined by the interventions executed.
    EMB

The main research projects are:

  1. Application of regenerative medicine in the treatment of acne scars: nanofat plus platelet-rich plasma (PRP) infiltration and fractional CO2 laser
  2. The use of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) in breast implant capsule contracture.
  3. Treatment of venous leg ulcers with different combinations of fat transplantation and platelet-rich plasma: a prospective comparative evaluation
  4. Quality of life in breast cancer patients treated with reconstructive procedures: application of the BREAST-Q questionnaire.
  5. Evaluation of the posteromedial brachioplasty technique associated with liposuction in the remodeling of the post-bariatric arm.
  6. IPL in the treatment of posterior blepharitis.
  7. The use of regenerative devices in chronic wounds: a prospective randomized study
  8. Application of a bioelectrochemical sensor to detect antibiotic-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection
  9. Evaluation of the periprosthetic capsule in patients undergoing breast reconstruction with tissue expanders with different surfaces
  10. Association of papilloma virus infection with the clinical evolution of keratoacanthoma.
  11. Correlation of thyroid gland dysfunction with skin pathologies.
  12. Association of papilloma virus infection and actinic keratosis.
  13. The involvement of CDKN2A in melanoma and mesothelioma in rare syndromic cases of familial cancer
  14. Clinical evaluation of topical treatment in papulocystic acne.
  • In 2017 the creation of a multidisciplinary research group: "being and appearing: objective indication for plastic surgery" of theUniversità Campus Bio-medico di Roma, Italy.

Collaborations with other Research Centers

  • Q-portfolio team (Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Harvard Medical School, McMaster University (Canada)) (international collaboration for the Italian validation of the main PROMs (Patient Reported Outcomes Measurements)
  • Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Microsurgery Unit, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China (Prof. YX Zhang): collaboration on works relating to microsurgery; microsurgery fellowships

Patents

  • Biomedical device with gradual compression for the support and optimization of the skin scar (Italian patent)
    Inventors: P. Persichetti, S. Filippi, A. Gizzi, G. Marangi, F. Segreto, C. Falcinelli
  • Adipose tissue purification technique to obtain a high concentration of adipose stem cells (Italian patent)
    Inventors: P. Persichetti, GF Marangi, F. Segreto, F. Pantano, MC Tirindelli, C. Gregorj