Munchausen′s syndrome in plastic surgery practice: A bewildering situation!

Abstract

The plastic surgeon rarely encounters patients expressing factitious disorders. Through their incredible imagination, these patients conjure numerous lesions for themselves and willingly accept to undergo invasive diagnostic procedures and risky therapies. We report four cases of Munchausen′s syndrome in the field of plastic surgery and follow with a discussion of as to when should the alarm bells start ringing for the unsuspecting plastic surgeon, to assist him in dealing with these too often-ignored disorders.

Keywords

• Factitious disorders
• Munchausen′s syndrome
• plastic surgery