Reconstructive surgery is the branch of plastic surgery that deals with the restoration of tissues after accidents, extensive surgical procedures that create large defects, congenital abnormalities, and, more generally, with the reconstruction and restoration of functionality in various parts of the body that have suffered damage which classical surgery cannot repair.
Reconstructive surgery includes subspecialties of plastic surgery such as microsurgery, which deals with the reattachment of limbs, the transfer of free flaps from one part of the body to another to cover defects, and the repair of nerves and blood vessels. It also includes cleft surgery (cleft lip, cleft palate, hypertelorism, congenital syndromes, etc.) and surgery of the external genital organs (hypospadias, hypertrophy of the labia, etc.).
Reconstructive surgery also deals with the treatment and restoration of skin cancer, breast cancer, burns, scars, and other serious conditions, and is an integral part of the practice of a properly trained plastic surgeon.