Patients Report High Satisfaction with Facelift Outcomes

A new study that examined patient satisfaction after facelift surgery found that 96.7 percent reported a more youthful appearance. Only 2 patients said they were unhappy with their scars.

According to the study’s author, Dr. Eric Swanson, patient satisfaction and the effects of surgery on quality of life are two of the most important factors in determining if a surgery is a success, but they had not been previously prospectively studied in patients undergoing facelifts alone or in combination with other facial rejuvenation procedures.

Swanson conducted interviews with 93 patients one month after surgery; the patients had a deep plane facelift alone or a facelift and another facial rejuvenation surgery, including eyelid surgery, forehead lift and endoscopic forehead lift. Other commonly performed procedures, done at the time of the facelift, included laser resurfacing, fat injection and chin augmentation.

On average, the patients’ assessments of how many years younger they felt they looked because of the surgery was 11.9 years. Eighty-two percent said they had an improvement in self-esteem and 69.6 percent reported an improved quality of life. The mean age of the patients was 56.6 years.

The author concluded, “With proper patient preparation and education, facial rejuvenation effectively meets patient expectations. These findings support the recommendation of surgical facial rejuvenation to patients who wish to look younger.”

Despite the substantial recovery time the patients reported for facelifts, the majority of patients (83.9 percent) said they would have the surgery again, and 93.5 percent said they would recommend the surgery to someone else.

The study will appear in the next Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery journal and a free abstract is available online.