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Published on: March 1, 2015
The Deep Plane versus SMAS Facelift: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Sami Khoury1, Zaid Almubarak1, Halema Khan1
1Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, London Health Science Centre, Victoria Hospital, University of Western Ontario, Room B3-431A, 800 Commissioners Road East, London, ON, Canada.
Background:
Facelifts remain one of the most common facial rejuvenation surgeries, with SMAS and deep plane techniques being the primary approaches. There is still ongoing debate regarding which method provides longer-lasting outcomes.
Objective:
We conducted a systematic review and one-arm meta-analysis comparing patient satisfaction and complications of SMAS and deep plane facelifts.
Method:
MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science were searched from 2000 to 2024 for controlled trials and cohort studies following the PRISMA guidelines for systematic review. The primary outcome was patient-rated overall satisfaction. Secondary outcomes included long-term (more than one year) satisfaction and any measure of adverse events.
Results:
We identified 2474 studies for screening with 21 studies included with 2896 patients. The deep plane had a patient satisfaction of 94.4% (95%CI 84.8, 99.7) and the SMAS 87.8% (95%CI 84.3, 91.3). The deep plane had an overall complication rate of 17.2% and the SMAS 10.3% (95%CI 6.20, 14.4) CONCLUSION: Our review shows that deep plane and SMAS facelift both provide robust and long-term outcomes with high patient satisfaction.
Level Of Evidence Ii:
This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266.

