A device used to help plastic surgeons perform lifts of the midface area produces good results, according to the results of a pilot study.

The device, called the Endotine ST, is used to stabilize the soft tissue in the cheekbone area after the surgeon has separated it from the ligaments connecting it to the bone and lifted it into a new position. It attaches to soft tissue with tiny blunt-tipped tines, after which two “leashes” are sutured into the tissue to anchor it in place. The device is then absorbed into the body over several months, and completely disintegrates, according to animal studies.

In the July/August issue of the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, Dr. James Newton of Stanford University Medical Center in California reports on the results of midface lifts using the device in 10 patients. At the time of the study, Newton served on the physician advisory board of Coapt Systems, Inc., in Palo Alto, the company that makes the Endotine ST.

Nine of the 10 patients reported significant improvements in their appearance by six months after the procedure, Newton reports. One patient stated that the procedure did not improve her appearance at all; this could have been due to a tear in the suture used to anchor the Endotine ST’s leash, which would have allowed the soft tissue to drop to its original position, he suggests. Using two sutures rather than one for each leash appears to have alleviated that problem, Newton writes.

Patients had less major swelling and nerve weakness than is typically seen with traditional face-lifts, which use sutures to anchor soft tissue, according to Newton. They did experience some tenderness and swelling of the cheek area in the weeks after the procedure. One patient developed a paralysis of a facial nerve that disappeared by three months after the procedure. None of the patients had infections or skin irregularities.

The main benefit of the procedure is a redistribution of the volume of the fat pads over the cheeks, so the procedure is particularly appropriate for patients with sagging in this area, he notes.

The device also reduces the risk that a physician will accidentally entrap a nerve in a suture, Newton said.

“The adjustability and decreased risk of nerve entrapment to the overlying soft tissues makes the Endotine ST device another option for safe and secure stabilization of a properly mobilized midface,” he concludes.

SOURCE: Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, July/August 2006.