What it means for a patient
- Ligaments hold facial tissue in place. A facelift often releases some of them so tissue can move.
- The ligaments lie near facial nerve branches, so surgeons use them as guides to protect the nerves.
- Which ligaments are released depends on your goals. Ask your surgeon which areas they plan to release.
- This is a review article. It does not report patient outcomes.
Why this paper matters
It gathered differing descriptions of the facial retaining ligaments into one review of anatomy and surgical use. It links ligament release to facelift results and ligament position to nerve safety.
Overview
The retaining ligaments of the face help explain facial aging and rejuvenation, but the literature describes them with differing names, locations and classifications. The authors review their anatomy in the cheek, mandible, temporal and periorbital areas. The abstract reports no new study data.
Findings
- Retaining ligaments sit in constant anatomic locations and separate facial spaces and compartments.
- Their superficial extensions form the septa that separate facial fat compartments.
- Their main surgical significance is release to achieve the desired aesthetic result.
- They have a sentinel role because of their relationship to facial nerve branches.
- The authors advise surgeons to choose a dissection plane, release the ligaments suited to the goals, and use the ligaments as reference points to avoid nerve injury.
- Descriptions vary in the literature, with several classifications, locations and naming systems.
- The review covers cheek, mandible, temporal and periorbital ligaments.
- The abstract gives no numbers.
Terms
- Retaining ligaments: fibrous bands that hold facial soft tissue to bone or deeper layers.
- Septa: thin fibrous walls that divide fat into compartments.
- Fat compartments: separate pockets of facial fat.
- Plane of dissection: the tissue layer in which a surgeon works.
- Facial nerve: the nerve that moves the muscles of facial expression.
- Sentinel: serving as a warning marker for a nearby structure.
- Periorbital: around the eye.
- Mandible: the lower jawbone.