Est-il légitime de proposer de la chirurgie esthétique aux enfants et aux adolescents ?

Cosmetic surgery for children and adolescents experiencing an international increase. Their physical and psychological development is incomplete; establishment of an indication for cosmetic surgery requires several essential prerequisites. The motivations of surgery, often multiple and intricate, must be understood. There is a difference in motivation between adult, trying to be more “competitive” and the young patient, wishing to comply with a social group to integrate. We must identify who made the request to respond to requests from the child himself. The role of parents is crucial. Their presence, legal obligation, gives variable contribution: asset to a non-participating children, role of information relay delivered, organizational aspects of care but sometimes leads to difficulties if parent-child relationship is confrontational. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgery, 63,623 cosmetic surgery procedures occurred in 2013 in adolescents from 13 to 19 years old. Mainly rhinoplasties, otoplasties, breast surgery (breast augmentations, breast reductions, gynecomasties). From a purely technical viewpoint, cosmetic surgery is not riskier in young patients. However, surgery only targets “surgical problems”; we must make a distinction between “complex” and “depression”, be able to identify a psychiatric underlying disease or understand that surgery is a hidden demand. If surgical art requires a real expertise, only a well-indication establishment will process to a successful result.