Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jan 1;8(1):V14.
doi: 10.3171/2022.10.FOCVID2290. eCollection 2023 Jan.

Partial hypoglossal-facial neurorrhaphy: a surgical technique

Ujwal Yeole  1 , Lissandro Ferrucci  2 , Horacio Murga  3 , Mariano Socolovsky  4
Affiliations

Partial hypoglossal-facial neurorrhaphy: a surgical technique

Ujwal Yeole et al. Neurosurg Focus Video. .

Abstract

This is a video demonstration of hemihypoglossal-facial neurorrhaphy. Any irreversible facial palsy more than House-Brackmann grade II is aesthetically problematic. Also, the functional and psychological impact associated with a higher grade of facial palsy is even worse. In this video, the procedure is demonstrated in a female patient with irreversible grade VI facial palsy and corneal opacity due to exposure keratitis 1 year following surgical excision of cerebellopontine angle (CPA) schwannoma. Postoperative outcomes are shown in another patient who underwent a similar procedure for establishing outcomes. The nasolabial fold and eye closure symmetry can be achieved with minimal or no hypoglossal morbidity. The video can be found here: https://stream.cadmore.media/r10.3171/2022.10.FOCVID2290.

Keywords: facial palsy; facial reanimation; hypoglossal-facial neurorrhaphy; nerve coaptation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosures The authors report no conflict of interest concerning the materials or methods used in this study or the findings specified in this publication.The authors report no conflict of interest concerning the materials or methods used in this study or the findings specified in this publication.

References

    1. Socolovsky M, Martins RS, di Masi G, Bonilla G, Siqueira M. Treatment of complete facial palsy in adults: comparative study between direct hemihypoglossal-facial neurorrhaphy, hemihipoglossal-facial neurorrhaphy with grafts, and masseter to facial nerve transfer. Acta Neurochir (Wien) 2016;158(5):945–957. - PubMed
    1. Martins RS, Socolovsky M, Siqueira MG, Campero A. Hemihypoglossal-facial neurorrhaphy after mastoid dissection of the facial nerve: results in 24 patients and comparison with the classic technique. Neurosurgery. 2008;63(2):310–317. - PubMed
    1. Caffaratti G, Giovannini SJM, Orfila D, Socolovsky M. Hemihypoglossal-facial nerve transfer: technical description and key points: 2-dimensional operative video. Oper Neurosurg (Hagerstown) 2020;20(1):E53–E54. - PubMed
    1. Robla-Costales D, Robla-Costales J, Socolovsky M, di Masi G, Fernández J, Campero Á. Cirugía de la parálisis facial. Conceptos actuales. Neurocirugia (Astur) 2015;26(5):224–233. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources