Early Experience with Galaflex Absorbable Mesh for Minimally Invasive Facelifting

Friday, April 25, 2014
Essie Kueberuwa, MD, University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL, Frederick Sailes, MD, The Few Institute Chicago and New York LLC, Chicago and Julius W. Few, MD, Few Institute, Chicago, IL
Goals/Purpose: There is increased demand amongst cosmetic surgery patients for short post-operative recovery time, minimal scarring, and reduced surgical risk. This trend has been the impetus for growing interest in reproducible less invasive facelift techniques. Synthetic mesh is frequently used elsewhere in the body to provide vital reinforcement to repaired tissue planes.  We theorized that the use of a mesh overlay on the plicated SMAS in a minimally invasive facelift may augment tensile strength by reinforcing it, and decrease the propensity for creep and re-descent by promoting adhesive ‘scarring down’ between tissue planes. We present the results of the pilot, multi center study evaluating cosmetic results and post operative recovery when mesh is placed during minimally invasive face lifting.

Methods/Technique:  Six female patients who met inclusion criteria were evaluated in a IRB approved post-market, non-randomized, prospective open label study of GalaFlex absorbable mesh (Galatea Corp., Lexington, MA 02421) (4 hydroxybutyrate polymer) in Facelift surgery.  2D photography, and validated questionnaires (Face-Q and Visual Analogue Pain Scale) were used to evaluate results at week 1, and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months. 

Results/Complications: Patient reported VAS pain scores averaged below 2  (scale 0 to 10) within a median of 5.5 days. Bruising and ecchymosis on post-operative day 7 had a reported average score of 1.33 (scale 1 to 5 where 1 = none, 2 = scant, 3 = noticeable, 4 = very noticeable, and 5 = severe). One reported complication was resolved with a brief office based surgical intervention under local anesthesia.

Conclusion: Initial findings suggest GalaFLEX mesh is associated with acceptable post operative pain, and reasonable recovery time in our patient cohort. There were no significant complications associated with its use in our 12 month study period.  Additional data is required to determine whether reinforcement increases face lift longevity.

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