Short-term safety of facial rejuvenation using an absorbable polydioxanone monofilament thread in patients with mild-to-moderate facial skin sagging

Abstract

Background Facial rejuvenation techniques using thread lifts are performed by passing sutures under the facial skin to treat sagging and facial flaccidity, and their advantages include a relatively short recovery time and relatively small incisions. In this study, we describe the short-term safety of a facial rejuvenation technique involving an absorbable polydioxanone monofilament thread (Mint Lift) in patients with mild-to-moderate facial skin sagging. Methods The current multicenter, retrospective, case-series study was conducted in a total of 196 patients who visited the Grace Plastic Surgery Clinic or the Songdo IB Clinic between 2016 and 2018. The patients underwent insertion of the Mint Lift 43 and 17 in the deep temporal fascia and the deep subcutaneous layer, respectively. Of these patients, 179 met the eligibility criteria and their medical records were retrospectively reviewed. Results The patients comprised six men (3.4%) and 173 women (96.6%), with a mean age of 44.4±14.4 years. In our series, postoperative complications included ecchymosis (1.7%), infection (0.4%), thread extrusion (1.1%), and skin dimpling (1.5%). No cases of iatrogenic nerve injury were observed, and all postoperative complications spontaneously resolved. Conclusions The Mint Lift 43 and 17 may be safe for thread lifting in patients with mildto-moderate facial skin sagging. However, further long-term follow-up studies are warranted.

RETRACTED: Expert consensus on the facial rejuvenation using the Mint Lift® in Koreans: Perspectives of plastic surgeons

“…For facial rejuvenation procedures using the Mint Lift ® , the entry and exit points are determined to prepare holes for insertion of a threadlift considering anatomic characteristics of the face, as previously described 38,39 …”

“…47 findings, they concluded that facial rejuvenation using the Mint Lift ® 43 and 17 might be a safe modality. 38 Finally, Moon et al recently reported that there were a total of 4 cases (19.0%) of postoperative complications, all of which were spontaneously resolved within a maximum period of 4 months. 39 The effects of threadlifting have been explored; Kim et al showed that a threadlift reacted with the adjacent soft tissue and thereby produced additional lifting effects after it directly pulled the skin, followed by the increased synthesis of type I collagen and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1).…”

“…For facial rejuvenation procedures using the Mint Lift ® , the entry and exit points are determined to prepare holes for insertion of a threadlift considering anatomic characteristics of the face, as previously described. 38,39 A triangle is drawn using three lines: (1) the Pitanguy line, identifying frontal nerve which runs from 0.5 cm below the tragus to 1.5 cm above the lateral eyebrow, (2) the horizontal line along the superior border of the zygomatic arch and (3) the vertical line from the temporal process notch (Figure 1A). In the triangle, four entry points were determined below and in parallel with the Pitanguy line, thus marked as En1, En2, En3 and En4 (Figure 1B).…”

“…Treatment procedures may vary depending on indications (Level of evidence III). [37][38][39] It is mandatory, however, to perform further evidence-based studies.…”

An Accelerated Aging Test to Compare the Thermal Stability over Time between the Mint Lift® and the MEDI ROPE

“…Of various types of PDO thread-lifts, the Mint Lift ® (HansBiomed Co., Ltd., Seoul, Korea) deserves special attention because it was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) [11]. Moreover, its clinical efficacy and safety have been well described in the literature [4,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].…”