Whisking recovery after automated mechanical stimulation during facial nerve regeneration.

IMPORTANCE Recovery from facial nerve transection is typically poor, but daily mechanical stimulation of the face in rats has been reported to remarkably enhance functional recovery after facial nerve transection and suture repair. This phenomenon needs additional investigation because of its important clinical implications. OBJECTIVE To determine whether automated mechanical stimulation of the whisker pad improves whisking recovery after facial nerve transection and repair in a rat model.

A system for delivering mechanical stimulation and robot-assisted therapy to the rat whisker pad during facial nerve regeneration.

Functional recovery is typically poor after facial nerve transection and surgical repair. In rats, whisking amplitude remains greatly diminished after facial nerve regeneration, but can recover more completely if the whiskers are periodically mechanically stimulated during recovery. Here we present a robotic "whisk assist" system for mechanically driving whisker movement after facial nerve injury.

Platysmectomy: an effective intervention for facial synkinesis and hypertonicity.

Objectives: To describe a procedure to permanently address platysmal synkinesis and hypertonicity and to report changes in quality of life associated with platysmectomy using the Facial Clinimetric Evaluation instrument.

Methods: Chemodenervation significantly relieves platysmal synkinesis in almost all patients with significant face and neck synkinesis associated with dynamic facial expressions. We recently began to offer platysmectomy as part of a permanent solution to chronic superficial torticollis-like neck symptoms.

Free gracilis transfer for smile in children: the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Experience in excursion and quality-of-life changes.

Background: Free muscle transfer for facial reanimation has become the standard of care in recent decades and is now the cornerstone intervention for dynamic smile reanimation. We sought to quantify smile excursion and quality-of-life (QOL) changes in our pediatric free gracilis recipients following reanimation.

Methods: We quantified gracilis muscle excursion in 17 pediatric patients undergoing 19 consecutive pediatric free gracilis transplantation operations, using our validated SMILE program, as an objective measure of functional outcome.