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. 2025 Feb;282(2):1061-1073.
doi: 10.1007/s00405-024-09044-7. Epub 2024 Oct 23.

Surgery for facial palsy in the hands of otorhinolaryngologists: a population-based study

Elisabeth Alberts  1 , Jonas Ballmaier  1   2   3 , Daniel Boeger  4 , Jens Buentzel  5 , Kerstin Hoffmann  6 , Jiří Podzimek  7 , Holger Kaftan  8 , Andreas Mueller  9 , Sylvia Tresselt  10 , Gerd Fabian Volk  1   2   3 , Orlando Guntinas-Lichius  11   12   13
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Surgery for facial palsy in the hands of otorhinolaryngologists: a population-based study

Elisabeth Alberts et al. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2025 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose: Modern facial surgery can improve eye closure and address facial functional and emotional expression disabilities in case of severe acute facial paralysis with low probability of recovery and in cases of chronic flaccid facial paralysis. Reports on outcome typically originate from specialized tertiary care centers, whereas population-based data from routine care beyond specialized centers is sparse.

Methods: Therefore, patients' characteristics, surgical techniques, postoperative complications, and patients' satisfaction with the final outcome were analyzed for all inpatients with facial paralysis undergoing facial surgery in Thuringia, a federal state in Germany, between 2006 and 2022. 260 patients (female 41.5%; median age 65 years) were included.

Results: On average, the surgery rate was higher for men than for women (0.83 ± 0.39 versus 0.58 ± 0.24 per 100,000 population per year). For first surgery, static procedures were dominating (67.3%), followed by dynamic reconstruction (13.8%), and combined static and dynamic reconstructions (13.5%). The most frequent type of surgery was upper lid weight loading (38.5%), hypoglossal-facial jump nerve suture (17.3%), and facial-facial interpositional graft suture (16.9%). Bleeding/hematoma formation needing revision surgery was the most frequent complication (6.2%). Overall, 70.4% of the patients were satisfied with the final result. The satisfaction was higher if the target was to improve eye closure (65.2%) or to improve upper face function (65.3%) than to improve the lower face function (53.3%).

Conclusions: If facial nerve reconstruction surgery and/or upper lid weight placement was performed, the satisfaction was significantly higher. If revision surgery was needed to improve the result, the satisfaction was significantly lower.

Keywords: Facial nerve; Facial palsy; Facial paralysis; Facial reanimation; Healthcare research; Reconstructive surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Types of surgical procedures at first facial surgery and at further sessions. Note: The number of procedures is higher than the number of patients
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Complications and needed revision surgery at first facial surgery and at further sessions. A: Specific complication due to facial surgery. B: Clavien-Dindo classification of complications. C: Proportion of patients needing revision surgery
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Overall patients’ satisfaction with facial surgery. A: Overall improvement. B: Improved eye closure. C: Improved upper face function. D: Improved lower face function
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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