• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.288-297
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• 2005

Rehabilitation of the paralyzed face as a result of trauma or surgery remains a daunting task. Complete restoration of emotionally driven symmetric facial motion is still unobtainable, but current techniques have enhanced our ability to improve this emotionally traumatic deficit. Problems of mass movement and synkinesis still plague even the best reconstructions. The reconstructive techniques used still represent a compromise between obtainable symmetry and motion at the expense of donor site deficits, but current techniques continue to refine and limit this morbidity. In chronically paralyzed face, direct nerve anastomosis, nerve graft, or microvascular-muscle graft is not always possible. In this case, regional muscle transposition is tried to reanimate the eyelid and lower face. Regional muscle includes maseeter muscle, temporalis muscle and anterior belly of the digastric muscle. Temporalis muscle is preferred because it is long, flat, pliable and wide-motion of excursion. In order to reanimate the upper and lower eyelid, Upper eyelid Gold weight implantion and lower eyelid shortening and tightening is mainly used recently, because this method is very simple, easy and reliable.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.12-20
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• 1994

Generally, the totally paralyzed face can never be made normal by any of the current methods of reconstruction. Careful selection of patients based on sound judgment of what can and cannot be achieved by the proposed surgical technique is paramount to a successful operation and a satisfied patient. The results are related to time of delayed between injury and repair ; the shorter the delay the better are the results. The objectives in correcting facial paralysis are to achieve normal appearance at rest ; symmetry with voluntary motion ; control of the ocular, oral, and nasal sphincter ; symmetry with involuntary emotion and controlled balance when expressing when expressing emotion ; and no significant functional deficit secondary to the reconstructive surgery. It must be employed a number of concepts, for treatment of the paralyzed face by surgeon, depending on the cause, time interval, and wound characteristics, as well as the availability of and necessity for neuromuscular substitution. Nerve grafts, crossovers, muscle transfers, free muscle and nerve-muscle grafts, micronuerovascular muscle transfers, and regional muscle transposition are the principal methods being developed. We applied the temporal musle transposition for reanimation of unilatrally paralyzed faces for long times on two patients. The results of muscle transposition can be enhanced by the patient's learning to activate the transposed muscle by voluntary effort, and are best in patients who are motivated to learn the necessary motor-sensory coordination techniques.