title: A 15-year follow-up study of the non-SMAS skin-tightening facelift with midface defatting. Equal or better than deeper plane procedures in result, duration, safety, and patient satisfaction.
abstract: This article outlines the author's philosophy on facial aging that he uses in a surgical technique that is unique because it requires no SMAS tightening, incision above the auricle, deep-plane dissection, subperiosteal dissection, or stitches in the face above the mandibular border. The fatty nasolabial and labiomandibular prominences are excised using sharp dissection or curette to flatten these areas. Various case studies with extensive follow-up are provided. In the author's experience, this surgical technique has shorter recovery time, higher patient satisfaction, fewer complications, excellent longevity, and a more natural aesthetic result than deeper and more extensive techniques.
authors.affiliation: USC Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ellenbogen
mesh_terms: D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D015361:Rhytidoplasty / Q000379:methods*