Plastic surgery is a term used to describe the medical and cosmetic practices of the correction of physical form and function. There are many different and specific sub-strands of plastic surgery that are practised all over the world. Because of the international scope of plastic surgery (Plastische Chirugie), translation of relevant textual information such as that on websites and issues to do with cultural differences need to be addressed when planning for the future of this growing field of surgery. The differences between cosmetic and plastic surgery also need to be addressed as different countries have different guidelines and regulations regarding the separation of these two fields. The translation of a plastic surgery website into German will have to deal with many of these issues.

Some of the sub-fields of plastic surgery are: hand surgery, microsurgery, craniofacial surgery, burn surgery, aesthetic surgery and pediatric surgery. In reality the entire field of plastic surgery is very large and does not entirely conform to the public views of it as only a cosmetic field involved with surgical facelifts. It is important to distinguish between the terms plastic surgery and cosmetic surgery. Plastic surgery is a recognised and special kind of medical surgery that includes cosmetic surgery but is not limited to it. Plastic surgeons are also involved in reconstructive surgery in many different forms as well as cosmetic procedures.

Because of the growth of plastic and especially cosmetic surgery around the world, the entire medical community has to be aware of issues relating to language translation and other localization issues. The research conducted into a new facelift procedure may need to be carefully translated into German to be published on a German website and be accessed by medical professionals from Germany. The growth in plastic surgical practices has led to the formation of various organisations and websites that attempt to further the education of surgeons and make the industry as cohesive and transparent as possible.

These types of organisations are necessary to make sure that research and education is successfully translated and relevant in particular cultural contexts. Issues of language and cultural sensitivity to certain issues will have to be addressed along side the different medical practices and guidelines of a nation’s medical system. One nation’s relationship to plastic surgery in general may be quite different from that of another; and so it is vitally important to make this surgical discipline as cohesive and yet locally relevant as possible. This is a complex situation and any translation of surgical information into the German language would have to be aware of all these issues.