A New Approach to Surgical Rejuvenation of the Face and Neck: The Influence of Cone Beam Computed Tomography on Choice of Treatment Strategy in Patients with Involutional Changes.

[BACKGROUND] Preoperative assessment of age-related changes is crucial for predicting and preventing complications and for minimizing repeat interventions, in esthetic surgery of the face and neck. However, there is still a lack of evidence-based data and quantitative information concerning the use of diagnostic methods when planning surgical rejuvenation of the face and neck.

[METHODS] This study included 73 patients who complained of age-related changes in the soft tissues of the face and neck and who sought esthetic surgical correction, between March 2022 and November 2024. Patients underwent a general clinical examination, assessment, age ranking, and gender categorization; their body mass indexes and aging morphotypes were also determined. Subsequently, a standard surgical correction plan for each patient was compared with a treatment plan obtained after cone beam computed tomography (CBCT).

[RESULTS] Comparisons of standard treatment plans with plans based on CBCT results revealed that the latter exhibited significant advantages (p < 0.05) when selecting methods for surgical correction of the soft tissues of the face and neck.

[CONCLUSIONS] The use of CBCT scanning provides objective information about the condition and anatomical features of soft tissues and facial bones, enabling the planning of predictable, safe, and effective outcomes for surgical rejuvenation of the face and neck. It also helps to reduce the number of surgeries, lower treatment costs, and shorten the duration of treatment.

[LEVEL OF EVIDENCE IV] This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .