Mark Codner, MD Plastic Surgery

After studying this article, the participants should be able to: 1. Describe pertinent surgical anatomy relevant to safe and effective face-lifting techniques. 2. Identify key aspects of facial aging. 3. Incorporate risk-reduction strategies during preoperative assessment. 4. Tailor their approach to face lifting based on patient anatomy. 5. Identify and treat complications after face-lift surgery. 6. Incorporate use of valid patient outcomes assessment tools in their practice to facilitate standardized outcomes reporting in the face-lift literature. Treating the aged face requires an understanding of bone and soft-tissue anatomy, including the analogous lamellar layers of the face and neck, and the techniques designed to restore youthful skin tone and facial contours. Although volume restoration with fillers is effective for restoring youthful facial contours, the power of face lifting is unmatched in its ability to rejuvenate a sagging facial shape. Standard face-lifting techniques are described, along with the authors' preferred approach, supplemented by video demonstration of the high-superficial musculoaponeurotic system technique. Complications, along with their prevention and treatment, are reviewed. Currently available comparative studies of face-lifting outcomes consider surgeon opinion and postoperative complications rates. A valid, standardized, patient-reported outcome tool, the FACE-Q, has been available since 2010, and should be a component of any comparative discussion of face-lifting techniques in the future.

The contour of the neck is a very important determinant of facial aesthetics. Precise knowledge of neck anatomy is essential for adequate planning and execution of this procedure. There are three anatomic and surgical planes involved in the management of the aging neck; the superficial plane (subcutaneous fat), the intermediate plane (platysma muscles and the fat between the two muscles), and the deep plane (subplatysmal fat, the anterior belly of the digastric muscles, and the submandibular glands). These planes need to be thoroughly evaluated in the preoperative assessment and dealt with according to each patient's needs. Even though this article focuses on isolated management of the aging neck, careful evaluation of the neck and its relationship to the lower third of the face is fundamental. If there is significant jowling and descent of the neck-face interface, an isolated neck-lift procedure will not address that problem and will lead to a suboptimal result. In these patients, a face and neck lift is a more appropriate operation.

Atlanta, Ga. Received for publication October 25, 2004. Mark A. Codner, M.D., 3200 Downwood Circle, Suite 640, Atlanta, Ga. 30327, [email protected]

Atlanta, Ga. Received for publication December 17, 2003. Mark A. Codner, M.D. 3200 Downwood Circle, Atlanta, Ga. 30327

Mark A. Codner, M.D. 3200 Downwood, Circle Suite 640 Atlanta, Ga. 30327[email protected] Received for publication Febuary 19, 2002.

Congenital nasal pyriform aperture stenosis is an unusual form of nasal airway obstruction in the neonate. Pediatric plastic surgeons are often involved in the management of these children and should recognize this condition and know the treatment options. Fifteen cases of children with congenital nasal pyriform aperture stenosis were reviewed for presentation of the disorder, management, and effectiveness of treatment, making it the largest series to date. There were nine male patients and six female patients in the series. They all experienced varying degrees of nasal obstruction at birth and were managed on the basis of the severity of their symptoms. Twelve patients were treated surgically in the first year of life, with a mean age at operation of 97 days (range, 3 to 362 days). Two patients required surgical intervention during their teenage years (age, 14 and 18 years) because of persistent symptoms, and one patient (age, 2 years) with mild symptoms was managed medically. Associated craniofacial anomalies were present in six cases (40 percent). Surgical enlargement of the pyriform aperture was successfully performed through an upper buccal sulcus incision in 14 patients. Preoperative symptoms of upper airway obstruction were improved in all patients at an average follow-up of 2.4 years (range, 1 month to 5 years). Congenital nasal pyriform aperture stenosis varies in presentation and severity, occurring either as an isolated congenital anomaly or in association with developmental craniofacial anomalies. It can be effectively managed by surgical enlargement of the pyriform aperture without significant recurrence or long-term morbidity.

Discussion by Mark A. Codner, M.D. Received for publication January 12, 2001. Mark A. Codner, M.D. Paces Plastic Surgery 3200 Downwood Circle, N. W., Suite 640 Atlanta, Ga. 30327[email protected]

This study was undertaken to compare the morbidity of traditional iliac bone graft harvesting techniques for grafting alveolar clefts to minimally invasive techniques. Fifty-five age-matched patients, ages 6.5 to 16 years (mean, 11.2 years), 22 girls and 33 boys, were divided into three groups. The traditional bone window open harvesting technique served as the control group. Two different minimally invasive techniques, one that used a bone grinder and another that used a trephine, for bone harvesting were compared with the control. Both invasive techniques were statistically superior, p < 0.05, in terms of total time pain medication was necessary (mean of 12.0 hours for bone grinder, 17.6 hours for trephine, 26.0 hours for control), operative time for bone harvest (mean of 11 minutes for bone grinder and trephine, 20 minute for control), and mean incision length (2 cm for bone grinder and trephine, 5 cm for control). Patients exposed to the minimally invasive techniques had fewer complications, a trend toward earlier ambulation, and shorter hospital stays when compared with the bone grinder technique. The patients exposed to the bone grinder demonstrated earlier ambulation and fewer requirements for analgesia when compared with the trephine technique, although these results did not reach statistical significance. The trephine technique was useful when maxillary osteotomies were combined with alveolar bone grafting, because it provided structural bone grafts and cancellous bone. On the basis of these findings, the bone grinder is the preferred technique for harvesting alveolar bone grafts when no structural support is required. These authors no longer use the traditional bone window open harvesting technique.

Cohen, Steven R. M.D.; Boydston, William M.D., Ph.D.; Burstein, Fernando D. M.D.; Hudgins, Roger M.D. Author Information