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RACS ASC 2026
A decade of evolution in single centre facial reanimation techniques: a retrospective analysis.
Verbal Presentation

Verbal Presentation

11:57 am

01 May 2026

River View Room 5

FACIAL PALSY

Presentation Description

Institution: Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital - QLD, Australia

Facial reanimation procedures can be broadly categorised into static and dynamic procedures. Emerging evidence demonstrating improved patient quality of life outcomes has generated a shift toward immediate dynamic strategies which include nerve transfers and grafts, often supplemented by static techniques. A retrospective analysis was performed on patients who underwent facial reanimation for oncologic head and neck resections at a single tertiary centre between 2015 and 2024. Immediate reanimation was defined as procedures performed at the time of tumour resection. Surgeries were classified by whether they were immediate or delayed and further categorised by whether they contained static or dynamic components. The proportion of primary dynamic reanimation surgeries increased from 12.2% of annual cases (2015-2019) to 25.5% (2020-2024) in the period studied. This reflected a general trend toward primary dynamic procedures, whilst immediate static reanimation figures remained comparable. Static reanimation remained a mainstay of delayed cases. The increased absolute volume and frequency of delayed static reanimation, 36.7% (2015-2019) to 42.0% (2020-2024), is noted and may fit with the trend toward more dynamic, immediate reanimation cases. This single centre series demonstrates a temporal shift toward the use of dynamic techniques in immediate facial reanimation. The increasing burden of delayed reanimation procedures, the majority of which are static, forms an important consideration as caseloads and immediate reconstruction continues to increase.
Presenters
Authors
Authors

Dr James Ryan - , Dr Darryl Dunn -