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BackgroundThe mission of the International Confederation of Plastic Surgery Societies (ICOPLAST) is to improve patient outcomes through collaboratively structured processes in education, advocacy and communication. This article explains how we approached the task of establishing priorities for this nascent confederation in an equitable and achievable manner.MethodsIn late 2016, an online survey was sent to the inaugural 62 ICOPLAST member national societies for dissemination to their respective plastic surgeon members. Functional domains and proposed initiatives were ranked according to their level of importance by individual plastic surgeons.ResultsThe survey was completed by 572 plastic surgeons. As a functional domain, education was highly ranked by 75.3% of respondents, followed by patient safety (67.4%), communication (59.3%), humanitarian (46.6%), regulation (41.2%), and advocacy (41.1%). Respondents also ranked individual initiatives within each domain to produce a compilation list of the top 13 initiatives of importance.ConclusionThis study has identified priorities of importance to ICOPLAST members, which will aid in building a strategic framework and enhancing outcomes for patients, plastic surgeons, and the field of plastic surgery more broadly.

Background: Peripheral nerve palsies of the upper extremities presenting at birth can be distressing for families and care providers. It is therefore important to be able to identify patients whose diagnosis is compatible with full recovery so that their families can be reassured., Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of all infants presenting with weakness of the upper extremity to our clinic between July 1995 and September 2009. We also conducted a review of the current literature., Results: During the study period, 953 infants presented to our clinic. Of these patients, 25 were identified as having isolated radial nerve palsy (i.e., a radial nerve palsy in isolation with good shoulder function and intact flexion of the elbow). Seventeen infants (68.0%) had a subcutaneous nodule representing fat necrosis in the inferior posterolateral portion of the affected arm. Full recovery occurred in all patients within a range of one week to six months, and 72.0% of the patients (18/25) had fully recovered by the time they were two months old., Interpretation: Although the outcome of obstetrical brachial plexus palsy is highly variable, isolated radial nerve palsy in the newborn carries a uniformly favourable prognosis.