Plastic surgery on identical twins.

Abstract

Four pairs of identical female twins have undergone a variety of plastic surgery procedures, including rhinoplasties, rhytidectomies, augmentation mammaplasties, and trochanteric liposuction. Performing plastic surgery on identical twins implies special considerations: the extent of preoperative phenotypic identity, the behavior of each twin (dominant or recessive), the twins' personal interdependence and individual expectations, the operative strategy (simultaneous versus sequential operations), the eventual complications, and the extent to which the operative results and postoperative appearance are identical. In general, counseling, operative technique, and responsibility for producing good results place greater demands on surgeons when performing plastic surgery on identical twins than on singletons. Still, the results have been gratifying.