Direct excision of the turkey jowl deformity: a review of 100 consecutive cases.

Objective: The aging of the neck is a combination of accumulated submental fat, platysmal banding, and redundant skin. Traditional face- and neck-lifting procedures successfully address these components. Unfortunately, the cost, both in terms of downtime and expense, often becomes prohibitive for a large section of the interested patient population. For select male patients, direct excision of the turkey jowl deformity with a straight-line closure offers a novel alternative.

Design: A review of 100 consecutive cases of direct excision of turkey jowl deformity procedures was performed. Minimal follow-up was 1 year. All surgical procedures were performed in the office setting with local anesthesia.

Results: Eight patients had extrusions of suture without recurrence of banding. Four patients required steroid injections for mild scar hypertrophy; 2 of these patients requested minor scar revisions 1 year later. There were no cases of postoperative bleeding, infection, or nerve injury. All 100 patients were satisfied with the overall cosmesis, and none had revision jowl surgery.

Conclusions: Direct excision of the turkey jowl with a straight-line closure offers a major improvement in the aging neck with minimal downtime, expense, and complication rate. This procedure can be easily accomplished and safely performed in an office environment.