Skin incision parallel with skin cleavage lines for access to the fractured zygomatic arch.

In surgery of the fractured zygomatic arch the skin incision was placed parallel with the skin cleavage lines, directly over the zygomatic arch. The fracture site was exposed by blunt dissection of the subcutaneous tissue. Facial palsy may be predicted as a possible sequel to this incision. In fact, facial paresis occurred in 1/3 of the patients but it disappeared within 6 months. It appeared that the facial nerve was only damaged by stretching during the surgical procedure but was not severed by the incision. The postoperative scars presented no unsightly appearance, if the incision was placed completely parallel with the cleavage lines.