Gender-Specific Evaluation Following McLaughlin’s Dynamic Muscle Support for Irreversible Facial Paralysis

Abstract

Failure of the mimic muscles as a cause of facial nerve paralysis may result in significant asymmetry, which can be addressed by surgical reanimation procedures. Among those, the temporalis muscle transfer as advocated by McLaughlin is a single-stage technique for the dynamic reanimation of the mouth. Despite increasing research directed at women’s health, the gender-specific differences of this technique have not yet been addressed. Thus, we retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients who underwent this operation between 2001 and 2021 for gender-specific differences concerning the postoperative outcome. In total, 28 women and 17 men were included. The two cohorts were statistically comparable with respect to etiological characteristics such as age, duration and etiology of paralysis, and preoperative degree of symptoms. After a median follow up of 15 months, restoration of smiling and elevation of the oral commissure was more often achieved among women than men. A statistically significant difference, however, could only be shown for the latter. Resting symmetry was restored in about 50% of both genders. There were no differences concerning postoperative complications or reoperations. The McLaughlin’s dynamic muscle support effectively re-establishes the elevation of the oral commissure and ability to smile among both genders, albeit women tend to be more likely to achieve the desired results.