The plastic surgery department at San Bortolo Hospital in Vicenza is also an excellence, and it is here that many members of the American community living in the city, especially women and children, have been treated or received medical and aesthetic treatments. The facility, founded in 1971 by Professor Gianfranco Girardi and two of his collaborators, has grown progressively in terms of medical staff, number of beds, and surgical activity. Currently, the department is led by Dr. Leonardo Sartore, the specialist who took over the management after serving as head physician at Sant'Anna Hospital in Como and completing a fellowship at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. He has a staff of 9 physicians, including doctors with experience gained in international specialist centers and also holding American certification. There are 16 beds, and the team operates in the surgical theaters every day of the week. The surgical case load is significant. Approximately 1,500 surgeries are performed annually as inpatient procedures and another 1,300 on an outpatient basis, in addition to 20,700 emergency room treatments. This large amount of work is due to the fact that plastic surgery, as a medical discipline, is very broad and deals with a wide range of pathologies and physical conditions since it includes three sub-sectors that characterize it: reconstructive surgery, aesthetic surgery, and regenerative surgery. These branches are complementary as they address both function and form.
Reconstructive surgery
The current concept of reconstructive surgery is to repair injured parts, recovering as much as possible the lost function associated with a specific anatomical part. Plastic surgery, therefore, not only aims to repair any losses but also to reproduce the specific activity related to that particular organ or anatomical district. For example, in the case of eyelid damage or hand trauma, the department's specialist will not only reconstruct the injured tissues but also restore the mobility and sensitivity of the eyelid or hand. For this reason, a dedicated therapeutic pathway has been created for patients at San Bortolo Hospital based on the pathology. Four outpatient clinics have been designed: hand surgery (acquired or traumatic pathologies), difficult-to-heal wounds (ulcers and skin defects), obesity outcomes (excess skin correction after weight loss), and breast surgery (reconstruction with implants or flaps after breast cancer). In addition to these, there are the "historic" clinics for skin cancer surgery, melanomas, and burn surgery (scar correction).
Aesthetic surgery
Plastic surgeons also deal with aesthetic surgery, especially when it is related to functional, relational, or congenital problems. Indeed, for many years now, aesthetic surgery has been practiced in public hospitals by department specialists on a freelance basis, thus offering patients the maximum guarantee of safety and results. Rhinoplasties to modify the shape and size of the nose, breast corrections and implants, ear deformities, ptosis of the eyelids (sagging of one or both upper eyelids), are just examples of aesthetic interventions that are commonly performed by plastic surgeons.
Regenerative surgery
Regenerative surgery has also been underway for many years now. The first applications took place more than 30 years ago with stem cell injections taken from the umbilical cord. Today, these cells, present in large quantities especially in adipose tissue, are used. By taking a portion of adipose tissue with cannulas and centrifuging it in a controlled manner, it is possible to transfer a large number of stem cells which then differentiate into the most suitable tissue for healing the treated area. In the case of scar tissue, trauma, or depletion, the transplanted cells reproduce, each time replacing the scar, restoring the skin tissue, or filling body volumes that have deteriorated and lost elasticity over time. Plastic surgery, therefore, as mentioned, aims not only to repair damage from accidents, trauma, or tumors but also to improve the quality of life in general, with the specific goal of overcoming the physical and relational problems of the patient.
USA Help Desk
For any administrative information that American citizens from Camp Ederle, Del Din Barracks, or Peace Village may need, the "USA Help Desk" office is available, which is the point of contact for all patients from the United States intending to receive care at Vicenza Hospital. This office contacts the main insurance companies, including Tricare Isos for active military patients and their families, and Afspa (affiliated with Ulss 8 Berica since March 2023), Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Gmmi, Agp Company, Cigna for civilian patients. To schedule a visit or for further information, the following telephone numbers can be contacted: 0444757694-0444757695 and email address: usadesk@aulss8.veneto