Background: Thanks to the new concepts in face lifting surgery the attention of our efforts to restore youth of the face shifted from skin/SMAS traction to volume redistribution. S-lift or MACS lift are some examples of this effort to perform face lifts through shorter incisions due to the help of suspension sutures. The logical next step is to achieve comparable and durable results with minimal invasive methods.
Methods: This paper describes a technique based on the same philosophy of volume redistribution, achieving the suspension of soft tissues with percutanous purse-string sutures through small access punctures. This is obtained through a double sided needle or shuttle, smoothly anchoring the subcutaneous tissues in a vertical direction to a more cranial periosteal point without drawing the skin.
Results: The described shuttle suspension method was used on 266 patients in 384 different locations including the malar area, jowl, neck, eyebrows and nose, between December 2005 and December 2007 with satisfactory results and very low complication rate.
Conclusions: The described technique might be significant in terms of using just punctures to gain access for tissue suspension and taking advantage of the inherent retraction capacity of the skin in order to deal with the non-excised skin excess in related localization. This simple percutaneous suspension method can be quickly and easily performed under local anesthesia with long term durability and high patient satisfaction rate.