CLASSIFICATION OF FACIAL REJUVENATION TECHNIQUES BASED ON THE SUBPERIOSTEAL APPROACH AND ANCILLARY PROCEDURES

Subperiosteal face lift is a new way of doing facial rejuvenation. The re are multiple variations of technique described by several authors. Each variable introduced to the technique may be relevant to the final outcome and potential safety or complications. The most important var iables are extent of dissection, combination of the subperiosteal diss ection with other planes of dissection, suspension methods, and use of ancillary techniques. A systematic classification of techniques in wh ich a lesser or greater subperiosteal dissection is made has been devi sed. Each technique is individualized and differentiated from seemingl y alike techniques. A list of ancillary techniques is included. This c lassification is useful for facial evaluation and preoperative plannin g. A surgical proposal is made individualizing each patient's facial a esthetics rather than giving one type of operation to every patient. T his classification is also useful for comparison and analysis of surgi cal results obtained with differ ent techniques. It has the ver satili ty of adding new variations and any ancillary technique adapted to the surgeon's idiosyncrasy. It can be used as a model to develop a classi fication of traditional face lift techniques.