The goal in facial paralysis treatment is to achieve the normal appearance of the face as well as to reconstruct the natural symmetrical smile. In cases of facial paralysis, a widely accepted procedure is the two stage method, which combines neurovascular free muscle transfer with cross face nerve grafting. Although the results are promising, the two operations of this method, which are about 1 year apart, impose an economic burden on the patients and require a lengthy period before results are obtained. In order to overcome these drawbacks, one stage method, using latissimus dorsi neurovascuular free muscle flap was introduced.
Between January 2000 and January 2004, fifteen patients with long standing facial paralysis were treated in the Korea University Anam Hospital. The segmental latissimus dorsi with long nerve and pedicle was transferred to the paralyzed side of the face. The first postoperative movement of the transferred muscle was reported at 8.9 months, faster than that of the two stage method. During the next 24 months, a constant increase in the power of muscle contraction was observed. The fifteen cases were evaluated within an average of 31.7 months following the surgery and satisfactory results including muscle contraction were obtained in eleven of the cases but muscle contraction was not found in three cases.
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