Facial Plastic Surgery

The University of Illinois Medical Center, under the direction of J. Regan Thomas, MD, is an outpatient facility at 900 N. Michigan Avenue offering expanded research and teaching components of the facial plastic surgery program. Thomas' vision for the new center is to create a national model for the practice and teaching of facial plastic surgery. "The concept here is that we are developing a center to care for all aspects of the facial plastic surgery practice. Everything from facelifts to reconstructive surgery," says Thomas. "I think once we get it up and going, people are going to be visiting us from all over the United States to see what we are doing."

Facial Plastic Surgery Team

The core of the Medical Center's new facial plastic surgery center includes Thomas, M. Eugene Tardy Jr., MD, and Dean M. Toriumi, MD. Between them, they represent a past president of the American Academy of Otolaryngology, a past president of the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and two past presidents of the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. All are board members of the American Board of Facial Plastic Reconstructive Surgery, two are editors of professional journals in the field and all have written numerous books and papers on various plastic surgery topics. All have been awarded accolades for their work, and Toriumi and Thomas have been listed in Woodward/White's "Best Doctors in America" a combined eight times. Last November, W magazine listed Toriumi as one of the top five rhinoplasty surgeons in the world.

Thomas is modeling the center after a similar program he developed at St. Louis University Health Sciences Center where he was Chairman of the Otolaryngology Department for five years beginning in 1995. Before becoming chairman in St. Louis, Thomas was director of the Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Division at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He graduated from Drury University, went to the University of Missouri School of Medicine, did his surgical residency at Yale University in Connecticut, and his otolaryngology residency at the University of Missouri.

For Thomas, the appointment at the Medical Center is a homecoming of sorts. He began studying in the field in 1979 when he received a fellowship in facial plastic surgery through Northwestern University. His fellowship director at the time was M. Eugene Tardy Jr., a graduate of UIC's otolaryngology program, a longtime UIC faculty member and now Thomas' colleague.

As the elder statesman of the group, Tardy assumes much of the didactic teaching responsibilities, while Toriumi and Thomas will oversee the clinical patient care responsibilities.

Clinical Activities

Most procedures take place in the Outpatient Care Center (OCC) with some procedures handled in an office tower in the heart of Chicago's Magnificent Mile shopping district. The new facility is the lynchpin of Thomas' strategy to provide better patient care within the facial plastic surgery practice.

As a whole, The Medical Center's department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery is nationally recognized, even earning a listing as one of "America's Best Hospitals" in U.S. News and World Report in 1998. The department provides a wide range of services for the treatment of diseases of the Ear, Nose, and Throat and includes an Audiology Division for the treatment of hearing problems, a Division of Speech Pathology and a Pediatric Division committed to the treatment of Ear, Nose, and Throat disorders in children. The department also includes the Torok Vestibular Laboratory for the treatment of dizziness, vertigo, and imbalance; and the Division of Head and Neck Surgery, which specializes in treating cancers of the oral cavity, pharnyx. larynx, nose, sinuses, and neck. It is also home to the growing practice of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

The number of facial plastic surgery operations in the United States is growing rapidly. The number of rhinoplasties, or nose reconstructions, increased from about 89,000 in 1990 to over 171,000 in 1999, according to the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, while the number of rhytidectomies, or facelifts, rose from just under 37,000 to over 224,000 over the same period. A study conducted last year found that the total number of facial plastic surgery operations has increased by 12 percent since 1997, while certain procedures - such as rhinoplasty, which increased 44 percent - posted even larger gains. The recent study also found that the total number of facial plastic surgery procedures by all surgical specialties now approaches 1 million per year.

Botox injections now can be performed on an outpatient basis. Thomas hopes the new facility on Michigan Avenue will provide patients with a convenient location to have procedures done and return home on the same day. For patients contemplating more extensive procedures-such as a facelift, which often requires an overnight stay-the new center has a unique arrangement: Patients can elect to stay overnight, under a nurse's supervision; at the adjoining Four Seasons Hotel.

"Flexibility is what the new center is all about," Thomas says. While making great strides at the Medical Center, Thomas is not content to rest on his laurels. He hints that the Facial Plastic Surgery Center is just the first of what he hopes will be multiple new branches and extensions. With increased patient care and better visibility for the facial plastic surgery program, teaching and research will benefit, say's Thomas.

"In the world of facial plastic surgery, everything you need is right here. There are many well trained surgeons in Chicago, and, within that group, I think we represent a premier group."