Laser-assisted Liposuction Combined with Masseter Dissection for Mid-Lower Facial Recontouring

摘要

Background Asian women usually view the oval face,with a beautiful curve and clear outline,as elegant.The fat and bloated mid-lower face,with an undefined outline,takes away from what they perceive to be a beautiful appearance.Not only a bone but also soft tissue determine the shape of the mid-lower face.In this article,we introduce a modified surgical method of soft tissue for mid-lower facial recontouring,which can improve the fat and undefined outline of the mid-lower face caused by benign masseter muscle hypertrophy and reduce subcutaneous fat accumulation at the same time.The operative technique is simple and effective with few complications.Methods The surgical treatment of 36 patients who met the adaptation criteria was carried out by laser-assisted liposuction combined with masseter muscle dissection.All patients were followed up postoperatively,and the surgical efficacy was evaluated on the basis of:the comparison of facial contours of patients before and after surgery,the change of masseter muscle thickness detected by B-ultrasound imaging,the satisfaction of patients with postoperative facial contour improvement,and the incidence of complications.Results Between March 1,2018,and August 31,2019,36 patients with indications underwent this procedure.The follow-up lasted 6 to 12 months postoperatively and demonstrated that all patients were satisfied with the postoperative results,of which 33 cases(91.7%)were very satisfied,and 3 cases(8.3%)were satisfied with the treatment and had obvious improvement of the appearance of their mid-lower face.Preoperatively,the average mandibular bigonial breadth was 138.6±8.3 mm,and the average thickness of the masseter muscle was 13.9±0.8 mm;the postoperative breadth was 123.3±7.7 mm,and the thickness was 10.1±0.2 mm.The average reduction of the lower face width and masseter thickness were 15.2±2.1 mm and 3.8±0.1 mm,respectively.No complications occurred among the 36 patients.Conclusion The described method makes a great improvement in reshaping the outline of the mid-lower face,improves the fat and unclear outline of the mid-lower face caused by masseter muscle hypertrophy,and reduces subcutaneous fat accumulation.The procedure is easy to perform and is minimally traumatic,allowing for a quick recovery with few complications.These advantages along with the patients'overall satisfaction with the results make it worthy of clinical application.