There are two particular areas of trauma surgery which are sub-specialized in Toronto: maxillofacial and replantation.
The majority of maxillofacial trauma treatments are handled at Sunnybrook and St. Michael’s Hospital Trauma Units.
Replantation occurs primarily at The Hospital for Sick Children and at the Toronto Western Hospital. Residents generally provide primary assessment & care, and are involved at all treatment stages including surgical preparation, surgery and post-operative care.
Maxillofacial Reconstructive Surgery
Teaching of maxillofacial reconstruction is available in children and adults. The children’s teaching involves developmental and congenital problems as well as trauma and is carried out at The Hospital for Sick Children under the instruction of Drs. Christopher R. Forrest and John Phillips.
Post-traumatic defects and some developmental defects training is carried out at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre under Drs. Oleh Antonyshyn and Jeffrey Fialkov. Both Dr. Antonyshyn and Dr. Fialkov have been instrumental in the development of new techniques involving bone grafting and soft tissue reconstructions.
St. Michael’s Hospital is one of two trauma centres in the Greater Toronto area and provides primary trauma care for patients with maxillofacial injuries as well as secondary reconstruction in a delayed manner when required. St. Michael’s also supports a number of peripheral hospitals in the Toronto area by caring for patients with maxillofacial injuries when the expertise does not exist at the referring hospital.
Maxillofacial trauma is covered by Dr. Karen Cross, Dr. Melinda Musgrave, and Dr. Blake Murphy. Dr. Murphy completed a 1-year fellowship in craniofacial surgery in Miami after completing residency at the University of Toronto and this is one of his areas of clinical interest.
The Plastic surgeons support the trauma team and other surgical services as it relates to traumatic injuries at St. Michael’s Hospital. Examples of these collaboration include a wide range of cases with neurosurgery (scalp reconstruction and coverage, skull/calvarial reconstruction), orthopedic surgery (lower extremity soft tissue coverage and salvage, major limb amputation), vascular surgery, and sternal reconstruction.
