Facial Trauma Surgery Techniques May Translate to Aesthetic Facial Procedures, Review Finds

A new review published in the Journal of Craniofacial Surgery identifies shared surgical approaches between facial trauma reconstruction and aesthetic facial surgery, including techniques used in blepharoplasty, facelifting, brow surgery, and facial contouring.¹

Researchers from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine examined how surgical techniques used to treat craniofacial fractures may provide transferable anatomical knowledge and operative skills relevant to cosmetic facial procedures.

How Do Facial Trauma Techniques Apply to Aesthetic Surgery?

The review examined surgical approaches across the upper, middle, and lower face, identifying overlapping anatomical planes, surgical exposures, and technical principles.

In the upper face, coronal, pretrichial, endoscopic forehead, and upper eyelid approaches provide access to structures involved in both craniofacial fracture repair and aesthetic procedures targeting the forehead, brow, and upper eyelids.

For the midface, lower eyelid and intraoral maxillary approaches used in orbital and facial trauma reconstruction share operative planes with lower blepharoplasty, midface rejuvenation, orthognathic surgery, and malar augmentation.

In the lower face, intraoral mandibular and submental approaches involve anatomical principles applicable to genioplasty, mandibular augmentation, and neck contouring. The Risdon approach may also provide surgical experience relevant to facelifting techniques.

Across these procedures, the authors emphasized the importance of understanding tissue planes, skeletal landmarks, neurovascular anatomy, and the limitations of individual surgical exposures.

The review did not present comparative clinical outcomes or quantify whether experience in trauma reconstruction improves aesthetic surgery performance. Instead, it described anatomical and technical similarities that may inform surgical education.

"Although trauma experience does not replace dedicated aesthetic training, recognizing these shared anatomic and technical foundations may allow surgeons and trainees to more deliberately translate skills acquired during facial trauma reconstruction to aesthetic facial surgery," the authors wrote. "Ultimately, this framework may enhance surgical training across both disciplines."

Reference

Munkwitz SE, Taghioff SM, Quan H, Patel KS, Slavin B, Thaller SR. Bridging facial trauma and aesthetic surgery: transferable surgical approaches and techniques. J Craniofac Surg. Published online October 28, 2026. doi:10.1097/SCS.0000000000013548