Abstract
BACKGROUND: Absorbable suspension sutures are the only nonsurgical modality approved for tissue repositioning. OBJECTIVES: To quantitate patient perceptions of treatment at 24 months and determine the impact of age and prior surgical procedures on perceptions of efficacy, treatment longevity, and overall satisfaction. In addition, the authors sought to describe the impact of treatment with absorbable suspension sutures on the likelihood a patient will undergo future surgical procedures. METHODS: The first 100 treated patients who underwent treatment with absorbable suspension sutures, by the senior author, were critically evaluated. Subjects completed surveys 24 months following initial treatment. RESULTS: Of the initial 100 patients, complete records were available for 80 patients (age 39-86). Eighteen (22.5%) received a second treatment with absorbable suspension sutures and average time to second treatment was 23.4 months (range 13-37 months). Overall satisfaction was affected by age, 100% of patients ≤ 50 vs. 60% of patients > 50 (P = 0.026). Prior surgery appeared to be a factor in patient perception of efficacy: 82.6% of patients with no prior surgery indicated that absorbable suspension sutures were effective vs. 45.5% of patients with a prior surgical procedure (P = 0.0286). Just under one third of pretreatment surgical patients underwent surgery following treatment while 25% of surgery naïve patients went on to have surgery. Importantly, satisfaction with the initial procedure does not preclude later surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with absorbable suspension sutures is associated with high satisfaction through 24 months and does deter patients from surgery. The combination of lift and volumization results in 4-dimensional rejuvenation that includes rejuvenation of dynamic expression.