The Future of Plastic Surgery: Surgeon's Perspective.

Since the days of Sushruta, innovation has shaped the history of plastic surgery. Plastic surgeons have always been known as innovators or close followers of innovations. With this descriptive international survey study, the authors aimed to evaluate the future of plastic surgeons by analyzing how plastic surgery and plastic surgeons will be affected by new trends in medicine. Aesthetic surgery is the main subclass of plastic surgery thought to be the one that will change the most in the future. Stem cell therapy is considered by plastic surgeons to be the most likely "game changer." Along with changes in surgery, plastic surgeons also expect changes in plastic surgery education. The most approved assumption for the future of plastic surgery is, "The number of cosmetic nonsurgical procedures will increase in the future." If surgeons want to have better outcomes in their practice, they must at least be open minded for innovations if they do not become innovators themselves. Besides the individual effort of each surgeon, international and local plastic surgery associations should develop new strategies to adopt these innovations in surgical practice and education.