Open Neck Contouring

Anterior Approach to the Neck: Long-Term Follow-Up

BACKGROUND

The anterior or submental necklift has been well described. Long-term results have been demonstrated in patients with minimal, mild, and moderate skin excess. It relies on the skin's unique ability to contract once separated from its attachments and further enhances the surgical result with treatment of the intermediate layer- subplatysmal fat, anterior digastric, submandibular gland, and platysma. Treatment of this layer differentiates this operation from liposuction and offers benefits beyond liposuction alone.

OBJECTIVES

The authors sought to assess the long-term success of the anterior necklift for neck rejuvenation and determine its utility in patients with severe cervicomental angles.

METHODS

This was a single-surgeon, retrospective review of patients who underwent an isolated anterior necklift with no additional procedures between 1998 and 2017. Pre- and postprocedure photographs were scrambled and examined by independent evaluators grading the change in cervicomental angle based on the Knize scale. The reduction in apparent age was calculated utilizing the validated apparent age assessment scale.

RESULTS

Twenty-seven patients were evaluated (42% mild and 58% moderate to severe necks preoperatively). The average follow-up was 24.7 months. There was an average 3.6-year age reduction and 1.0-grade improvement in all patients. In moderate to severe necks, there was a 3.9-year age reduction and 1.4-grade improvement in the cervicomental angle following surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates the effectiveness of the operation in improving the cervicomental angle and reducing the overall apparent age of patients, even more so in severe cases. The operation is an option for patients who desire neck improvement but are unwilling to undergo a facelift.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 4

[Cervical lift: An update]

The neck is an aesthetic unit for which a rejuvenation request is sometimes very targeted or ore often encompassed in a global surgical project of face-lift. To obtain a long lasting outcome, the plastic surgeon has to make a full, detailed, and exhaustive analysis of the neck in order to choose the best indication within the multiple surgical tools. A full clinical examination is the key point, every aspects are outlined. The numerous surgical choices are described, illustrated, and sometimes revisited in the light of targeted anatomical studies. A didactic and graduated way is used to explain the recent evolutions of the surgical tools of the cervical lifting. Complications and insufficiencies in outcomes must be identified and explained. Finally, we illustrate this development by clinical cases. The surgical improvement of the cervical region is, for us, centered on the reconstruction of a cervical retaining structure: the Cervico-Mandibular Angle Suspensor (CMAS) ligament. This element makes it possible to understand and integrate the large number of technical proposals for cervical lifting.

[Incisions and baseline operative technique of cervicofacial lifting]

Cervicofacial lifting is one of the most iconic procedure of plastic surgery and is about hundred years old. In the following chapters of this report, numerous technical points will be specify. A baseline reliable and reproducible technique, appealing to the largest possible audience is presented in order to begin this surgery in optimum conditions. Pre- and postoperative management is also exposed. The aim of this chapter is to precise incisions and baseline operative technique of cervicofacial lifting, with description of SMAS and platysma suspensions as well as complementary procedures like liposuccion and lipofilling. This chapter will lay the foundation of more complex elements that will be described in the various following chapters.

The Retaining Ligament of the Anterior Digastric Muscle

The anterior belly of the digastric muscle (ABDM) is important in numerous esthetic surgeries including rhytidectomy, alteration of the cervicomental angle via partial resection of the ABDM muscle belly, and suprahyoid muscular medialization and suspension. Recently, the connection between the ABDM and the mylohyoid muscle (MH) has been proposed as important for the mechanism of the digastric corset procedure. This report refers to the connection between the ABDM and the MH as a type of retaining ligament of the anterior digastric muscle (RLAD). This report is the first to directly demonstrate the existence of the RLAD, via photograph and video, and document variation in its attachment sites, its composition, and its behavior when traction forces are applied. In addition to the importance of the RLAD in plastic surgery, the RLAD may affect neurovascular structures between the ABDM and MH and serve as a physical barrier separating the submental fascial space from the submandibular fascial space and, therefore, influence the spread of infection.

A Novel Approach to Submandibular Gland Ptosis: Creation of a Platysma Muscle and Hyoid Bone Cradle

Submandibular gland ptosis is a common impediment to obtaining superior surgical aesthetic results in neck lift surgery. Techniques for suspending the submandibular gland have been proposed, but these procedures have the drawbacks of disturbing the floor of the mouth mucosa and periosteum. We present an approach of submandibular gland suspension for the treatment of gland ptosis by employing a platysma and hyoid bone fascia cradle. Our technique was performed on cadaveric models. The platysma muscle and hyoid bone cradle for submandibular gland ptosis was created on the left side of the neck in two cadavers. A submental incision with sharp dissection was performed to raise a supraplatysmal flap. A subplatysmal plane was developed until the submandibular gland was identified. Sutures were used to pexy the platysma to the hyoid bone periosteum and deep cervical fascia, tightening the overlying muscle and in turn elevating the submandibular gland. Submandibular gland ptosis must be corrected in order to achieve exemplary aesthetic results. Our approach of creating a cradle with the platysma and hyoid bone avoids the potential complications of previously described sling procedures, while still maintaining the integrity of the gland and surrounding tissues.

Morphometrics of the Anterior Belly and Intermediate Tendon of the Digastric Muscle: Sexual Dimorphism and Implications for Surgery

The anterior belly of the digastric muscle (ABDM) is important in a variety of surgeries including submental lipectomy, rhytidectomy, alteration of the cervicomental angle via muscle resection, the "digastric corset" procedure for submental rejuvenation, the submental artery flap, and reanimation of the mouth after facial nerve palsy. Despite its clinical significance, little information exists regarding the morphometrics of the ABDM or its associated intermediate tendon. This study analyzed a total of 35 intact ABDMs and 43 intact intermediate tendons from 23 cadavers. Measurements were taken of the following parameters: muscle belly area, muscle belly length, intermediate tendon length, and intermediate tendon width at mid-tendon. Normative descriptive statistics are included within the report. Males were found to have significantly longer left-sided muscle bellies than right-sided bellies from males (U = 23.0; P = 0.044), left-sided bellies from females (U = 19.0; P = 0.020), and right-sided bellies from females (U = 12.0; P = 0.035). The morphometry, including sexual dimorphism, presented in this report can aid in the surgical planning and execution of numerous operations performed in head and neck, especially digastric muscle transfer surgery.