Meet the Surgeon

Trustworthy Hands

Dr Shagun Aggarwal is a Specialist Plastic Surgeon appointed at Sydney’s premier public hospitals including Prince of Wales, Sydney Childrens’ and Royal Hospital for Women. For 8 years Dr Aggarwal was also a consultant Plastic Surgeon at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

He is one of the few plastic surgeons who is fellowship trained in both cosmetic surgery of the breast, body & face, as well as reconstructive microsurgery.

As his private patient you can select to be treated at a range of Sydney’s premier hospitals including Sydney Adventist Hospital, SAN Day Surgery or Hunters Hill Private Hospital.

Background

Dr Aggarwal grew up in Sydney and graduated as Dux of James Ruse Agricultural High School. He completed his Bachelor of Science and Medical degrees from UNSW, graduating with First Class Honours. At UNSW he was awarded prizes for first place in Anatomy, Practical Anatomy and Medical Pharmacology. His passion and aptitude for anatomy, as well as his interest in art led him to pursue a career in Plastic Surgery. He undertook a year of General Surgery training, followed by 5 years of training in Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery under the auspices of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS), resulting in his award of FRACS(Plast).

Dr Aggarwal excelled in his years of training, receiving the John Lowenthal medal in 2010 when he completed a Master of Surgery through the University of Sydney. He was also awarded the Gordon-Taylor Medal for first place in Australia and New Zealand in the RACS Surgical Primary exams. In addition, Dr Aggarwal was awarded the Australian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS) Prize on 2 occasions for the best aesthetic essay in 2013 and 2014.

After completing training Dr Aggarwal completed a number of fellowships (in Canada and USA), before returning to Sydney to commence his public and private practice.

Dr Aggarwal is happily married – his wife, Dr Neha Aggarwala, is a specialist anaesthetist, and they have 2 children.

We will always provide you with the most honest advice.

Fellowships

After completion of his Australian training, Dr Aggarwal undertook further subspecialty training in highly sought fellowships abroad.

University of Toronto Fellowship in Breast Reconstruction & Aesthetic Surgery

At the University of Toronto, Dr Aggarwal worked with Dr Mitch Brown, , Director of Plastic Surgery Training and Dr John Semple, Head of Department of Plastic Surgery at Women’s College Hospital. Dr Brown is regarded as a leader in Canada as well as North America for his cosmetic, reconstructive and revision breast plastic surgery. Dr Brown is also known across the world for his invention of Breast Reconstruction Awareness (BRA) day that has been replicated around the world to increase awareness on reconstructive options after mastectomy. Dr Aggarwal spent this time in Canada with Dr Brown performing breast reconstruction with acellular dermal matrices (Flex HD), tissue expanders, and direct to implant reconstruction in patients having mastectomy. In addition he performed breast augmentation, breast reductions, mastopexies, augmentation-mastopexy, facelifts, rhinoplasties, body contouring, fat grafting, and revision augmentations with Dr Brown. Dr Aggarwal also co-authored a CME article in the premier journal for plastic surgeons: Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery (PRS), on Secondary Breast Augmentation.

To learn more about Dr Mitch Brown – Click this link

To learn more about the fellowship – Click this link

Advanced Reconstructive Microsurgery Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA

As the most sought after microsurgical fellowship in the United States, Dr Aggarwal was awarded this prestigious position via the competitive Microsurgery Match system, receiving 1 of only 3 fellowship positions, and being the first Australian plastic surgeon to receive the honour.

Here Dr Aggarwal worked alongside world-renowned surgeons Dr Joseph Serletti, Dr Liza Wu, Dr Scott Levin and personally performed over 220 microsurgical reconstructions (free flaps) of the breast, head & neck, upper and lower limb as primary operator. In particular Dr Aggarwal perfected perforator dissection for flaps such as DIEP for breast reconstruction.

To learn more about the fellowship – Click this link

Dr Aggarwal collaborated with surgeons in the unit to publish in the Journal of Microsurgery regarding the risk of venous stasis and thromboembolism in women undergoing free flap breast reconstruction (published 2017).

Dr Aggarwal’s knowledge, and experience from high volume, low morbidity centres of excellence have been invaluable in delivery of a high quality surgical service to his patients in Sydney. His professional and personable nature result in excellent patient satisfaction both with their surgical results and patient journey.

Current Appointments

VMO Plastic Surgeon at Sydney’s premier public hospitals:

Prince of Wales Hospital
Royal Hospital for Women
Sydney Childrens’ Hospital Randwick

Plastic Surgeon appointed at:

Sydney Adventist Hospital (SAN)
SAN Day Surgery
Hunters Hill Private Hospital

In addition, Dr Aggarwal has operating privileges and works with other surgeons at:

Chris O’Brien Lifehouse
Strathfield Private Hospital
Prince of Wales Private Hospital

Professional Body Memberships

Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS)
Australasian Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (ASAPS)
International Society of Aeshetic Plastic Surgeons (ISAPS)
American Society of Reconstructive Microsurgery (ASRM)
American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons
Alumni of University of Pennsylvania, University of Toronto, University of Sydney, University of New South Wales and University of Oxford

Teacher

Dr Aggarwal is passionate about teaching and education.

He is a teacher of future plastic surgeons at his positions at Prince of Wales Hospital, Royal Hospital for Women & Sydney Children’s Hospitals.

Previously, Dr Aggarwal has been the NSW Co-ordinator of the Accredited Plastic Surgery Teaching Program.

Dr Aggarwal is involved in medical student education through all his Sydney hospital appointments:

He teaches students from ANU at the Sydney Adventist Hospital
He teaches students from UNSW at POW, RHW and SCH

Dr Aggarwal is also interested in training standards and further improvements in the delivery of plastic surgery training. For two years (during his training) Dr Aggarwal was a representative of trainees on the National Board of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Scholar & Researcher

Dr Aggarwal regularly collaborates with other plastic surgeons locally and internationally to further plastic surgery research.

He also regularly attends both national and international conferences to maintain the best evidence based practice for his Sydney patients.

His published journal articles include:

Aggarwal, S. Aggarwala, S. Fat Grafting: Its Role in Breast Reconstruction. Curr Surg Rep 2017 Jun: 5: 11.
Momeni A, Tecce MG, Lanni MA, Aggarwal S, Pannucci C, Kovach SJ, Kanchwala SK, Wu LC, Serletti JM. Increased Lower Extremity Venous Stasis May Contribute to Deep Venous Thrombosis Formation after Microsurgical Breast Reconstruction-An Ultrasonographic Study. J Reconstr Microsurg. 2017 Mar;33(3):173-178
Brown M, Somoygi R, Aggarwal S. CME-Secondary Breast Augmentation. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2016 Jul;138(1):119e-35e.
Aggarwal S, Pennington DG. Gluteal reconstruction using free flaps. J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg. 2013 Aug;66(8):1149-52
Aggarwal S, Maitz P, Kennedy P. Electrical flash burns due to switchboard explosions in New South Wales- A 9 Year Experience. Burns 2011 Sep;37(6):1038-43

Why choose us?

Highly Skilled

Know you are in the safest of hands with a Plastic Surgeon who is experienced, highly respected, and appointed at premier Sydney hospitals- including Sydney Adventist, Hunters Hill Private, POWH and RHW.

Safety

If sedation or general anaesthetic is required, it is delivered by an accredited anaesthetist

Accommodation

Have your surgery at premier, accredited Sydney private hospitals.

Upfront Costs

We provide written quotes, so there are no surprises.

Patient Care

We will always make you our top priority. Need to ask a question? Whether its before or after your surgery, we will always be at your beck and call.

Real Reviews

Our patients love us! Feel free to read our reviews online on independent websites, or you can speak to some of our existing patients who will gladly speak about their plastic surgery journey.

Our Promise

We pride our practice in personalised, professional and ethical care. We will treat you, how we would wish to be treated if we were in our patients’ shoes. Your safety and satisfaction is our utmost priority – we only provide sedation or general anaesthesia in accredited facilities and after your procedure you will have direct access to our staff to answer any questions or concerns.

Your First Consultation

At your first consultation, Dr Aggarwal will explain a personalised treatment option for your desired results. A comprehensive medical history and examination is followed by discussion of surgery, examination of before and after photographs and trial of implants in the case of breast augmentation. Please remember that a GP referral is now mandatory for both reconstructive and cosmetic plastic surgery appointments.

Upfront about costs

We will always be upfront about all costs of surgery including surgical, anaesthetic and hospital fees. Our quotes include all follow up care associated with your planned surgery, and there is never pressure to decide quickly.

Customised Options

To help achieve your goals, we will tailor treatment options to what you actually need. We will never recommend surgical or non surgical treatments if its not going to achieve what you want. We will always be honest with what you can realistically achieve, and endeavour to deliver beyond our promise.