Polydioxanone Threads for Facial Rejuvenation:Analysis of Quality Variation in the Market

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Lifting the Mouth Corner:A Systematic Review of Techniques, Clinical Outcomes, and Patient Satisfaction

BACKGROUND: Mouth corners are an essential part of the centro-facial area for perception of attractiveness and emotions. Downturned mouth corners are a result of aging or have a congenital origin. Different mouth corner lifting techniques are described in the literature. OBJECTIVES: This review was performed to systematically assess and compare invasive and non-invasive mouth corner lifting techniques and their effectiveness, patient satisfaction and adverse effects. METHODS: MEDLINE (via PubMed), EMBASE and The Cochrane Central Register of controlled trials databases were searched for clinical and observational studies published in peer-reviewed academic journals with abstracts available (searched from May 18, 2019, to December 18, 2021). Outcomes of interest were aesthetic mouth corner lifting techniques, the degree of lift as well as the longevity of the lifting effect, patient satisfaction and adverse effects. Techniques were subdivided in invasive techniques and non-invasive techniques. RESULTS: Eleven out of 968 studies were included in the qualitative analysis. In general, surgical techniques seem to have a better mouth corner lifting effect in comparison to non-surgical techniques; however, objective evidence is weak, and surgery inevitably results in a scar. Reported patient satisfaction was good for both surgical and non-surgical techniques and no severe complications have been described. CONCLUSIONS: Surgical techniques seem to have a better lifting effect on mouth corners than non-surgical techniques. Nevertheless, objective evidence is weak, and a scar is inevitable