The endonasal lip lift: personal technique.

Abstract

Given the shortcomings of current methods to shorten the cutaneous upper lip, the senior authors modified the traditional subnasal lip lift with endonasal flaps, performing 311 such lifts over a 15-year period. Ideal surgical candidates are adults with tall philtra, negligible dental show, and no maxillary abnormalities. Benefits of the procedure include improved scar appearance and pout, absence of tension in visible areas, increased dental and vermilion display, and minimal scar migration (ie, loss of lift). Moreover, caudal rhinoplasty procedures are facilitated via the same incision sites. Undercorrection, sill widening, and alar distortion are mostly avoidable (or at least corrigible) complications. Nasal sill disruption, however, remains an inevitable drawback that may be minimized through meticulous technique.