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Aesthetic Surgical Enhancement of the Upper Lip: A Comprehensive Literature Review

  • Original Article
  • Face and Neck Surgery
  • Published:
Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

The recent rise in popularity of minimally invasive facial aesthetic procedures has resulted in the overall heightened patient interest in lip rejuvenation. There is a variety of techniques and modifications for surgical upper lip enhancement described in the literature but no single method is considered optimal. The aim of this literature review is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the studies dealing with surgical upper lip enhancement and evaluate their short- and long-term outcomes, as well as complication profiles.

Methods

A comprehensive review of the published literature through July of 2019 was performed. The PUBMED and Cochrane databases were searched for all English language articles on aesthetic surgical enhancement of the upper lip. Only articles dealing with the aesthetic aspect of the upper lip subunit were included. Preoperative assessment, patient selection and technique execution were assessed. Data were abstracted on all postoperative complications and outcomes.

Results

Overall, 52 articles were screened for inclusion, of which 17 met the inclusion criteria. The total number of patients treated in these studies was 2265. The average follow-up period was 30 months. The most commonly used surgical method across the studies was the subnasal lip lift (93.6%). The bull’s horn excision pattern was utilized to perform the subnasal lip lift in 71.7% of the cases, and the wavy ellipse excision was used in 18.1% of patients. Lip advancement by vermillion border excision pattern was the technique of choice for 49 patients (2.2%). Across all patients the most common complication was a non-aesthetically appealing result or adverse scarring with a mean incidence of 7.23%. Overall, the studies reported improvement in the aesthetic appearance of the upper lip after surgical enhancement, along with few but promising reports of high patient satisfaction. There is a relative paucity of high-quality data regarding complication profiles, patient selection, indications and contraindications.

Conclusions

This review provides an overview of several techniques and modifications for upper lip enhancement. It highlights the paucity of high-quality data on their application and optimizing patient selection. Promising satisfaction rates and relatively low complication rates suggest a more prominent role for surgical cheiloplasty in facial rejuvenation.

Level of evidence III

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.

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Fig. 1

adapted from Lee et al. [4]

Fig. 2

adapted from Austin [6]

Fig. 3

adapted from Fanous [7] and Holden [8]

Fig. 4

adapted from Jung et al. [16]

Fig. 5

adapted from Pan [17]

Fig. 6

adapted from Echo et al. [18]

Fig. 7

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Nassau University Medical Center, East Meadow, NY, USA

    Feras Yamin

  2. Stony Brook University School of Medicine, 100 Nicholls Road, Stony Brook, NY, USA

    Phoebe B. McAuliffe

  3. Hunstad Kortesis Bharti Plastic Surgery Center, 11208 Statesville Road, Unit 300, Huntersville, Charlotte, NC, 28078, USA

    Vasileios Vasilakis

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  1. Feras Yamin
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  2. Phoebe B. McAuliffe
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  3. Vasileios Vasilakis
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Correspondence to Vasileios Vasilakis.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Yamin, F., McAuliffe, P.B. & Vasilakis, V. Aesthetic Surgical Enhancement of the Upper Lip: A Comprehensive Literature Review. Aesth Plast Surg 45, 173–180 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-020-01871-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-020-01871-3

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