Plastic Surgery

The Department of Plastic Surgery of Renji Hospital, Affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (abbreviated as Renji Plastic Surgery), was established in 1951. It is a continuation of the Department of Plastic Surgery of the Affiliated Hospital of St. John’s University School of Medicine in the United States, and is also one of the earliest plastic surgery disciplines established in China. The founder of the discipline, Professor Chen Shaozhou, studied under F. Smith, a plastic surgery specialist at Columbia University in the United States, and returned to China to serve as a professor of oral and maxillofacial plastic surgery at Zhendan University School of Medicine. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, he became the first director of plastic surgery at a public hospital in Shanghai and a professor of surgery at Shanghai Second Medical University, and successively published a number of monographs, including Repair of Unilateral Cleft Lip and Preliminary Report on the Use of a Posterior Pharyngeal Wall Tissue Flap for Repair of Cleft Palate. Since 1993, he has enjoyed the special government allowance of the State Council. Renji Plastic Surgery is a member institution of the Plastic Surgery Alliance of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, one of the first approved bases for standardized residency training in Shanghai, a doctoral degree-granting site, and a national institution receiving visiting and advanced-training plastic surgeons. Through the efforts of successive directors of plastic surgery, it has gradually developed into a clinical center for plastic surgery that combines repair of congenital deformities, repair and reconstruction after trauma or tumors, and plastic and cosmetic surgery. It has successively cultivated professional teams in such areas as pathological scars, malignant tumors of the skin and soft tissues, ear, nose and hand deformities, oculoplastic surgery, breast reconstruction, and genital plastic surgery, and has trained master's and doctoral students for a cumulative total exceeding 20 person-times. The discipline has long focused on applying advanced technologies in clinical practice: in 2010, in collaboration with Professor Kotaro Yoshimura of Japan, it was the first in China to introduce and promote SVF-assisted fat grafting, opening a new chapter in adipose-component transplantation. In 2014, it was the first in China to introduce autologous cultured epidermal transplantation technology for treatment, remaining at the forefront of treating vitiligo, repairing skin-layer defects, and other fields. In 2019, it was among the earlier institutions in China to promote evaluation of the immune environment of patients with scars, providing a diagnostic reference for patients with “scar constitution.” At the same time, to ensure high-quality medical services, around 2000 the hospital successively introduced and put into use medical equipment including a Leica (Leika) surgical microscope, an electric dermatome, a hair-transplantation machine, and photon, laser, radiofrequency, and photodynamic equipment, making disease treatment more diverse and effective. The discipline actively conducts international academic exchanges and has successively established clinical and basic research collaborations with several world-class institutions, including Harvard Medical School in the United States, the University of New South Wales in Australia, the University of Tokyo in Japan, and Seoul University in South Korea. At the same time, the discipline participates in major academic conferences at home and abroad and actively conducts academic exchanges, maintaining diagnostic and treatment protocols and diverse medical aesthetics in step with leading international plastic surgery centers. During long-term international exchanges, it has worked with social organizations such as the World Craniofacial Surgery Foundation and the China Children’s Charity Relief Foundation to assist patients with congenital facial deformities, including severe facial clefts, patients with microtia, patients with hydrocephalus, and other disadvantaged groups. The treatment of these children was widely reported by mainstream media including China Central Television, Southern Daily, and Shanghai Educational Television, achieving a positive social impact. Having weathered countless challenges, and after the tireless, quiet dedication of three generations of senior, middle-aged, and young professionals, Renji Plastic Surgery has built a “wild-goose-formation” team led by academic leaders and comprising multiple subspecialty areas, including scar prevention and treatment, malignant tumors of the skin and soft tissues, reconstruction of the five sense organs, breast reconstruction, hair transplantation, genital plastic surgery, and medical aesthetics for rejuvenation. It promotes a 4D medical service model of “disciplinary collaboration,” “core-personnel leadership,” “doctor–patient interaction,” and “physician initiative,” and its treatment outcomes have repeatedly received praise from patients. In the future, Renji Plastic Surgery will remain true to its original mission, expand innovative medical technologies, optimize the allocation of professional resources, further refine and strengthen its practice, and do its utmost to provide the public with high-quality plastic reconstructive and medical aesthetic services.