Evidence-Based Medicine for Nonsurgical Facial Rejuvenation

Abstract

Options for nonsurgical facial rejuvenation treatment have increased significantly in both availability and popularity over the past two decades. However, there remains a paucity of clinical practice guidelines and evidence-based recommendations for these procedures. The purpose of this article is to assess for the presence of current high-level research for various methods of nonsurgical facial rejuvenation. Botulinum toxin injections remain the best studied method, with several randomized controlled trials guiding recommendations for safety and efficacy. Several studies on injectable fillers document complications and recommendations to avoid these, but sample sizes are small, and many are non-comparative. Deoxycholic acid has been well examined with FDA-approved to address submental fat, but has not been studied in other areas of the face. Although chemical peels, laser skin resurfacing, energy-based facial rejuvenation, microneedling and platelet-rich plasma have a variety of facial rejuvenation applications with minimal side effect profiles, there is significant variability with treatment protocols, outcomes measures, and randomized controlled trials with extended follow-up to develop clinical practice guidelines.