Method for immediate measurement of skin removed during rhytidectomies.

A method for measuring skin removed during rhytidectomy is presented based on analysis of 50 female patients. More skin was removed in primary rhytidectomies than in subsequent ones. Younger patients, aged 30 to 39 years, had measurably more skin removed than any other group between 40 and 69. The amounts of skin removed from the two sides of each patient's face were nearly equal in most cases. In those few cases where the skin excisions were unequal, there were still no significant differences between the two sides. The method described for measuring skin excisions is easy, rapid, and convenient.