[What are the objectives of a humanitarian reconstructive plastic surgery mission?]

What is the place of plastic and reconstructive surgery within the field of general surgery in developing countries? A limited personal experience (15 missions, 220 operated patients), and a more extensive experience of colleagues working in the field for several years, constitute the starting point for discussion. General surgery represented 80% of all surgical activity in the 1970s, but has progressively become more specialized. Analysis of the type of operations shows that the most frequent techniques are simple procedures (skin grafts, local autoplasties). "Basic" plastic surgery corresponds to local possibilities and the population's real needs. The authors describe the demands usually encountered during their missions (Africa, South East Asia). They emphasize the long-term involvement of the same team, at the same site, with the same program to pass on knowledge and, for the surgeon, to experience the richness of another world.