Lengthening temporalis myoplasty and lip reanimation

The authors report a new surgical technique of myoplasty of the temporalis muscle applied to the treatment of permanent peripheral facial paralysis. It consists of a muscle lengthening, using the totality of the temporalis muscle and the transfer of its tendon attached to the coronoid process directly to the lips, therefore modifying the temporal fixed point and respecting the deep temporal pedicles. Ten cadaver dissections were performed for a better understanding of the muscle fiber redistribution during surgery to measure the distance between coronoid process and lip commissure and to measure the width of the temporal tendon. The results in 10 patients have been very encouraging. This technique was performed on ten cases of permanent facial paralysis of various etiologies, by the same surgeon, with a 4-year follow-up.