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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Arch Plast Surg 2022; 49(04): 501-509
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-1751105
Pediatric/Craniomaxillofacial/Head & Neck
Original Article

Facial Nerve Repair following Acute Nerve Injury

Ehud Fliss 
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Affiliated with the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
,
Ravit Yanko 
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Affiliated with the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
,
Arik Zaretski
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Affiliated with the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
,
Roei Tulchinsky 
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Affiliated with the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
,
Ehud Arad
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Affiliated with the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
,
Daniel J. Kedar
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Affiliated with the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
,
Dan M. Fliss 
2   Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Affiliated Tel-Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
,
Eyal Gur
1   Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Affiliated with the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
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Abstract

Background Acute facial nerve iatrogenic or traumatic injury warrants rapid management with the goal of reestablishing nerve continuity within 72 hours. However, reconstructive efforts should be performed up to 12 months from the time of injury since facial musculature may still be viable and thus facial tone and function may be salvaged.

Methods Data of all patients who underwent facial nerve repair following iatrogenic or traumatic injury were retrospectively collected and assessed. Paralysis etiology, demographics, operative data, postoperative course, and outcome were examined.

Results Twenty patients underwent facial nerve repair during the years 2004 to 2019. Data were available for 16 of them. Iatrogenic injury was the common category (n = 13, 81%) with parotidectomy due to primary parotid gland malignancy being the common surgery (n = 7, 44%). Nerve repair was most commonly performed during the first 72 hours of injury (n = 12, 75%) and most of the patients underwent nerve graft repair (n = 15, 94%). Outcome was available for 12 patients, all of which remained with some degree of facial paresis. Six patients suffered from complete facial paralysis (50%) and three underwent secondary facial reanimation (25%). There were no major operative or postoperative complications.

Conclusion Iatrogenic and traumatic facial nerve injuries are common etiologies of acquired facial paralysis. In such cases, immediate repair should be performed. For patients presenting with facial paralysis following previous surgery or trauma, nerve repair should be considered up to at least 6 months of injury. Longstanding paralysis is best treated with standard facial reanimation procedures.

Keywords

facial palsy - facial nerve injury - facial nerve trauma

Ethical Statement

The authors declare conforming to the Declaration of Helsinki (local Institutional Review Board no.: 0727–19-TLV).


Patient Consent

All patients granted informed consent for the operative treatment.




Publication History

Article published online:
30 July 2022

© 2022. The Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

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