Overview
The author evaluated the safety and effect of a modified hairline-preserving incision, placed through a temporozygomatic approach, in facelift surgery. The study included 400 women with a mean age of 49 (range 38-72). Results were rated by the investigator with GAIS, by patients for appearance and satisfaction, and by temple outcomes and complications.
Findings
- 400 female patients; mean age 49 years (range 38-72).
- At 12 months, GAIS showed exceptional improvement in 98% of patients.
- 98% of patients were very satisfied with the temple result.
- No temporal hairline distortion, sideburn irregularity or visible front temple scars.
- Widening of temporal scalp scars: 4.2%.
- Delayed wound healing: 5.2%.
- Hypertrophic scarring: 2.7%.
- All complications resolved without long-term effects.
- Level of evidence: IV.
What it means for a patient
- This incision aims to keep the temple hairline and sideburn in place while still giving full access to the cheek and midface.
- In this series, no patient had a moved hairline or visible scar at the front of the temple.
- Delayed healing (5.2%) and widened scalp scars (4.2%) all resolved.
- Limits: one surgeon's series, women only, no comparison group, and improvement rated by the investigator.
Why this paper matters
It reports a 400-patient single-surgeon series of a hairline-preserving temple incision for facelift, with 12-month satisfaction and scar data. The author presents it as combining classic facelift access with short-scar temple benefits.
Terms
- Temporozygomatic approach: an incision route through the temple and cheekbone area.
- Hairline-preserving incision: an incision placed so the temple hairline and sideburn stay in their original position.
- GAIS (Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale): a scale for rating how much appearance improved.
- Sideburn: the strip of hair in front of the ear.
- Hypertrophic scar: a raised, thick scar that stays within the wound edges.
- Alopecia: hair loss.
- Rhytidectomy: a facelift.