The Weave Lift: A Technique for Minimally-Invasive Facial Rejuvenation

Goals/Purpose: There have been three major trends in facial aesthetic surgery over the past several years: (1) The desire on the part of the patient to have more limited visible incisions; (2) To have reduced postoperative recovery periods; (3) Surgeons have developed a clearer understanding of the volumetric changes that occur with facial aging.  A suture suspension technique, which we have named the “Weave Lift,” has been developed and utilized at our institution to re-suspend and reshape ptotic facial structures along specific anatomic vectors

Methods/Technique: Monofilament nylon sutures are placed percutaneously with specifically designed long needles through stab incisions under local anesthesia.  The suture is then “woven” into the soft tissue to solidly engage the tissue and avoid the “cheese-wiring” effect that is a pitfall of other suture suspension techniques.  The sutures are placed along defined vectors to provide lateral brow elevation, midface elevation, lower face suspension, and neck suspension to robust, fixed anchoring points in the face.

Results/Complications: Dramatic results were immediately obtained with the weave-lift suture suspension in 35 patients, with an age range of 38 to 76 years, over the past 3 years.  33 of 35 lifts are maintained with at least 1 year follow up.  Complications were minimal and minor and included knot tail exposure and transient dimpling at the midface which had resolved at one month after the procedure was performed.  One third of the patients returned to work the day after surgery, and all had returned to work and their normal activities in 7 days.  Average time for the procedure was approximately 60 minutes. The patients maintained their correction over the three year follow- up period.

Conclusion:

The patients maintained their correction over the three year follow- up period.

Conclusions The weave lift integrates important concepts in facial aging into a minimally invasive technique that can provide safe and effective and lasting results for patients with soft-tissue descent.  The most common risks of traditional face-lifting techniques and risk of general anesthesia are avoided