Facial reanimation surgery

Facial reanimation surgery restores or replaces lost facial movement. It may not create a perfectly symmetrical smile or completely restore a natural eyelid blink, butover time it will restore your ability to express your emotions through more natural facial movement. Whenever possible, surgeons should promptly repair facial nerve injuries in order to restore neural continuity from the facial motor nucleus to the distal facial nerve branches. Such repairs may involve direct microsurgical repair or nerve grafts. If these are not possible then other techniques may be used to re-establish facial resting symmetry and mimetic movement. This chapter lecture focuses on the management of facial palsy with particular emphasis on facial reanimation.