title: Evaluation of muscle graft using facial nerve on the affected side as a motor source in the treatment of facial paralysis.
abstract: To acquire symmetry of the cheek when smiling, we carried out 39 free vascularised grafts of the muscle, the motor nerve of which was sutured to a stump of the ipsilateral facial nerve, for 39 patients with facial paralysis. We used two methods: an as healthy and fresh as possible facial nerve stump (method 1A, n = 17), or an incompletely affected stump (method 1B, n = 22). The results are classified into grade 1 to 5 indicating increasing efficiency of muscle function. All patients who had method 1A and 14 patients who had method 1B were evaluated grade 4 or better. Both an incompletely affected facial nerve stump and the proximal stump of a facial nerve that had previously been resected have sufficient function to provide contraction in the grafted muscle.
authors: Division of Plastic Surgery, Jichi Medical School, Tochigi, Japan.
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Ueda
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Harii
authors: H
authors: H
authors: Asato
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Yoshimura
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Yamada
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005152:Facial Muscles / Q000294:innervation* / Q000601:surgery; D005154:Facial Nerve / Q000601:surgery*; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000637:transplantation; D016067:Nerve Transfer; D012904:Smiling