Tae Hwan Park1,2,3, Sang Won Seo4, Kwi Whan Whang5,6. 1. Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 108 Pyung-Dong, Jongno-Gu, Seoul, 110-746, Republic of Korea. 2. Research Department, Miz Aesthetic Surgery Clinic, Seoul, Republic of Korea. 3. Health Care Service, Deokjeok, Ongjin-Gun, Incheon, Republic of Korea. 4. Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, 108 Pyung-Dong, Jongno-Gu, Seoul, 110-746, Republic of Korea. plasticlife@hanmail.net. 5. Miz Aesthetic Surgery Clinic, 513-4, Shinsa-dong, Gangnam-Gu, Seoul, 135-887, Republic of Korea. miz0185@hanmail.net. 6. Research Department, Miz Aesthetic Surgery Clinic, Seoul, Republic of Korea. miz0185@hanmail.net.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Since the invention of the first barbed (short) suture by Sulamanidze in the late 1990s, different techniques have been described including Woffles (long) thread lifting, Waptos suture lifting, Isse unidirectional barbed-threads lifting, and silhouette lifting. The authors have implemented a newly developed type of thread integrating more small cogs and a soft and fragile feeling of the material (medical grade polypropylene: 16.5 cm long, 15 cm of length covered with cogs, and 0.40 mm in diameter). This study aimed to describe the authors' thread and the surgical techniques they have adopted to counteract the descent and laxity of facial soft tissues. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed during a period of 2 years, from March 2010 to February 2012. The procedure was performed with the patient under local anesthesia and intravenous sedation. The face was marked preoperatively to determine the appropriate vector of the thread and its five end fixation points. The superior border of the incision was approximately at the level of the lateral brow, and the lower border was about 2 cm above the superior margin of the helical root. After the temporal incision was made, the dissection was carried all the way down to the deep temporal fascia to create a plane between the superficial and deep temporal fascias. Using blunt cannulas, the dissection was continued in an inferomedial direction from the temporal incision to the lower face through the sub-submucosal aponeurotic system (sub-SMAS) plane, which was marked preoperatively. This sub-SMAS dissection could easily proceed to the premasseteric space (PMS). The face-lift sutures (Gusan Inc., Seoul, Republic of Korea) then were inserted through the cannula from the lower face to the temporal incision line. The sutures were trimmed, and the proximal ends were secured on the deep temporal fascia reinforced with Vicryl interrupted sutures. The results were assessed objectively using serial photography and subjectively according to patient assessment. Complications also were recorded. RESULTS: All but two patients (100/102, 98.1 %) were satisfied with the outcomes after surgery. Consensus ratings by two independent plastic surgeons found that objective outcomes were divided among "excellent," "good," and "fair." The postoperative course was uneventful except for one patient (1/102, 1 %) who presented with minor skin dimpling and another patient (1/102, 1 %) who had a temporary facial weakness. These two complicated cases were resolved spontaneously without any surgical interventions. CONCLUSIONS: The reported technique has several advantages over current approaches. First, the use of nonabsorbable sutures with sufficient maintenance potential can produce long-lasting, satisfying results. Second, use of the authors' fine thread can avoid complications such as extruded or visible thread, which often have been complaints with thread lifting. Third, use of a loose areolar plane, including sub-SMAS and PMS free of vital structures, which is deeper than the traditional lift procedure, can avoid any traction line during rest or animation without any significant complications. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .
BACKGROUND: Since the invention of the first barbed (short) suture by Sulamanidze in the late 1990s, different techniques have been described including Woffles (long) thread lifting, Waptos suture lifting, Isse unidirectional barbed-threads lifting, and silhouette lifting. The authors have implemented a newly developed type of thread integrating more small cogs and a soft and fragile feeling of the material (medical grade polypropylene: 16.5 cm long, 15 cm of length covered with cogs, and 0.40 mm in diameter). This study aimed to describe the authors' thread and the surgical techniques they have adopted to counteract the descent and laxity of facial soft tissues. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was performed during a period of 2 years, from March 2010 to February 2012. The procedure was performed with the patient under local anesthesia and intravenous sedation. The face was marked preoperatively to determine the appropriate vector of the thread and its five end fixation points. The superior border of the incision was approximately at the level of the lateral brow, and the lower border was about 2 cm above the superior margin of the helical root. After the temporal incision was made, the dissection was carried all the way down to the deep temporal fascia to create a plane between the superficial and deep temporal fascias. Using blunt cannulas, the dissection was continued in an inferomedial direction from the temporal incision to the lower face through the sub-submucosal aponeurotic system (sub-SMAS) plane, which was marked preoperatively. This sub-SMAS dissection could easily proceed to the premasseteric space (PMS). The face-lift sutures (Gusan Inc., Seoul, Republic of Korea) then were inserted through the cannula from the lower face to the temporal incision line. The sutures were trimmed, and the proximal ends were secured on the deep temporal fascia reinforced with Vicryl interrupted sutures. The results were assessed objectively using serial photography and subjectively according to patient assessment. Complications also were recorded. RESULTS: All but two patients (100/102, 98.1 %) were satisfied with the outcomes after surgery. Consensus ratings by two independent plastic surgeons found that objective outcomes were divided among "excellent," "good," and "fair." The postoperative course was uneventful except for one patient (1/102, 1 %) who presented with minor skin dimpling and another patient (1/102, 1 %) who had a temporary facial weakness. These two complicated cases were resolved spontaneously without any surgical interventions. CONCLUSIONS: The reported technique has several advantages over current approaches. First, the use of nonabsorbable sutures with sufficient maintenance potential can produce long-lasting, satisfying results. Second, use of the authors' fine thread can avoid complications such as extruded or visible thread, which often have been complaints with thread lifting. Third, use of a loose areolar plane, including sub-SMAS and PMS free of vital structures, which is deeper than the traditional lift procedure, can avoid any traction line during rest or animation without any significant complications. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .