Galeaplasty; a New Method for Upper and Lower Lip Augmentation

Objective: Lip augmentation is a common aesthetic procedure for labial rejuvenation. Frequent used materials are dermal grafts, dermal fillers (namely: fat, poly-L-lactic acid, calcium hydroxylapatite,collagen and hyaluronic acid) and lip implants. Amongst the side-effects is the unequal resorption of the injectables and the risk of foreign body reaction. The galea and temporal fascia(GTF) are tissues which can be grafted. We would like to present a novel lip augmentation technique and its advantages, with grafted GTF tissue.

Methods: GTF grafts are inserted into the upper and/or lower lip by tunneling the graft from one lip commissure to the contra-lateral commissure.

Results: A total of 5 consecutive patients were operated and included into this series. The first patient had a specific demand for voluptuous lips. We therefore performed galeaplasty 3 timesuntil a satisfactory result was obtained. Once under general anesthesia and twice under local anesthesia. The second was an orthognathic case where a Lefort 1 and genioplasty advancement was performed. Still she had no lip occlusion which was thereafter corrected with an upper -and lower lip galeaplasty augmentation. The third patient was born with an unilateral cleft lip -and palate. To correct lip asymmetry a galeaplasty and Mommaerts liplift was performed. The two last patients came purely for aesthetic indications. In all 5 patients no complication occurred at the donor nor acceptor site.

Conclusion: This small case series has proven that GTF grafts is a biocompatible solution for lip augmentation. There was minimal resorption and patients were satisfied. The main advantages are the low complication rate, equal resorption rate (if occurred), the multiple applications for different indications, abundant donor volume for multiple grafts to be performed and the low cost. A prospective study is conducted at this moment to measure lip volume stability in galeaplasty.