Background: Defects created by all surgical specialties require closure. Plastic and reconstructive surgery is a subspecialty that reconstructs large defects. Many people including the medical and dental practitioners are still unaware of its scope. This study was conducted to assess the level of awareness of surgical specialists in the practice of plastic and reconstructive surgery.
Methods: Questionnaires were sent to all surgical specialists working at the University College Hospital, Ibadan located in the South-West zone of Nigeria and to surgical specialists at the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital, located in the North Central zone of Nigeria. Scores of respondents were compared and analysed using student t-test.
Results: The mean knowledge of specialists at the University College Hospital, Ibadan was 62.61% (SD 14.63) while that of University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital was 47.86% (SD 20.26). The difference was statistically significant (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: The study demonstrated the general limitation of knowledge among surgical specialists on the scope of plastic surgery. It also showed a variation in the knowledge of the practitioners at Ibadan and Ilorin on the scope of plastic surgery. Greater progress must be made in the education of our colleagues as well as the general public, if the specialty of plastic and reconstructive surgery is to be practiced in its full scope.