Reconstructive Surgery in Nairobi
Reclaiming Your Life
Reclaiming Your Life
Trauma leaves a mark that goes deeper than the skin. Whether caused by fire, chemicals, industrial accidents, or road trauma, severe injuries can restrict your movement and alter your appearance. The journey to healing often continues long after the initial wound has closed.
At Avané Plastic Surgery, our Reconstructive Surgery Unit is dedicated to the complex art of rebuilding. We do not just treat scars; we treat the person behind them. Using advanced techniques like microsurgery, tissue expansion, and laser rehabilitation, we aim to release tight skin, restore flexibility to joints, and improve the cosmetic appearance of injured tissue. Our goal is to help you return to your daily life with dignity and comfort.
Do you have a smaller, specific scar? You might be interested in our Laser Scar Revision therapies.
Unlike cosmetic surgery, which focuses on enhancing normal structures, reconstructive surgery attempts to restore abnormal structures to normalcy.
We treat a wide spectrum of physical injuries and their aftermath.
Every injury is unique. Therefore, every surgical plan is custom-built. We employ a "Reconstructive Ladder" approach, starting with the simplest effective method and moving to complex tissue transfers when necessary.
We take healthy skin from a "donor site" (usually the thigh or buttocks) to cover open wounds or areas where scar tissue was removed. This is the gold standard for coverage.
For deeper injuries involving exposed bone or tendon, a simple graft is not enough. We perform flap surgery, where a unit of tissue (skin, fat, and sometimes muscle) is transferred along with its own blood supply to the injured area. This provides padding and durability.
If a scar is pulling your mouth, eyelid, or joint into a fixed position, we use geometric incision patterns (like a Z-shape) to lengthen the scar and release the tension. This instantly improves range of motion.
To replace a large area of scarred skin with normal skin, we may place a balloon-like expander under the nearby healthy skin. Over weeks, this stretches the healthy skin, growing new tissue that can be used to cover the damaged area.
Reconstructive surgery is a major step. Use this guide to help determine if you are ready for the next phase of your healing.
Status: My injury happened over a year ago, but the scar is tight.
Assessment: You are an ideal candidate for "Late Stage" reconstruction. Scars take about 12 months to mature fully.
Status: My injury happened last week.
Assessment: You require "Acute" care. We focus on wound closure and infection prevention first.
Goal: I cannot straighten my arm or close my eye fully.
Assessment: Surgery is medically necessary. Functional restoration is our highest priority.
Goal: I want the scar to disappear completely.
Assessment: Surgery cannot erase a scar entirely. It can make it thinner, flatter, and blend better with surrounding skin. Improvement is the goal, not perfection.
The timing of your surgery dictates the approach.
| Feature | Acute Reconstruction (Immediate) | Late Stage Reconstruction (Secondary) |
|---|---|---|
| Timing | Within days or weeks of the injury. | Months or years after the injury heals. |
| Primary Goal | Survival & Closure. Preventing infection, covering exposed bone/nerves, and saving the limb. | Function & Aesthetics. Improving movement, reducing itching, and making the scar look better. |
| Techniques | Debridement (cleaning), temporary dressings, skin grafts. | Scar revision, Z-plasty, Laser resurfacing, Fat grafting. |
| Hospital Stay | Often requires inpatient admission. | Frequently performed as an outpatient or short-stay procedure. |
Recovering from reconstructive surgery requires dedication. Unlike cosmetic surgery, you are often healing a "donor site" and a "recipient site" simultaneously.
In many cases, yes. If the surgery is performed to restore function (e.g., you cannot open your mouth or move your arm), it is classified as a medical necessity. We can assist in providing the medical documentation required for your insurer.
Yes. It is rarely too late to improve a scar. While the skin may be settled, we can still excise old scar tissue, use tissue expansion, or use laser therapy to improve the texture and appearance.
The surgery is performed under anesthesia, so you feel nothing. Post-op discomfort is managed with medication. Patients often find the "donor site" (where skin was taken) more uncomfortable than the repair site, but this heals within two weeks.
No surgeon can make a scar vanish completely. Our goal is to replace a "bad" scar (thick, dark, tight) with a "good" scar (thin, flat, pale). We aim for a result that is easily hidden or blends naturally with your skin.
Yes. Keloids are complex and have a high recurrence rate. We use a combination protocol involving surgical removal followed immediately by steroid injections or radiation therapy to prevent the keloid from growing back.
Learn more about our Avané Plastic Surgery Wellness Service who assist with scar conditioning.
