Headshot: © Dr Lindsey Fitzharris
What developments had been made in the field of plastic surgery by 1914?
Plastic surgery pre-dated the First World War. In fact, the term ‘plastic surgery’ was coined in 1798 by the French surgeon Pierre-Joseph Desault. At the time, the word referred to an object that could be shaped or sculpted; in this case, a person’s skin or soft tissue. But efforts in earlier periods to rebuild, repair or alter the appearance of the face were typically confined to small areas such as the nose or the ears.