Early results of bidirectional cone sutures for mid-face lifting in Asian patients

Background: There are intrinsic difference facial aesthetics between Asian and Caucasian, as well as racial differences in beauty standards. Bi-directional cones threads are effective in mid-face lifting but there was yet no study in Asians. Objective: This study aimed to determine the effects on mid-face laxity the effect size of using bidirectional cone suture for facelifting in Asian patients. Methods: In this prospective study, three pairs of bidirectional cone threads were used for mid-face lifting in 10 healthy volunteers with mild-to-moderate facial laxity. Results: The validated assessment parameters used in the study were the facial laxity rating scale (FLRS) to evaluate the severity of mid-face laxity and the wrinkle severity rating scale (WSRS) to assess the severity of the nasolabial fold (NLF). Overall, there was a substantial improvement in mid-face laxity and the NLF after thread lifting, supported by treatment effect size (Kendall W’s value: 0.96 and 0.85, respectively). Significant improvements for both mid-face laxity and NLF were observed in all patients by 3 months (p<0.05), with significant differences in FLRS (p=0.000) and WSRS (p=0.001). At each follow-up, all patients would complete a selfadministered questionnaire that included the subjective satisfaction rating scale. The results showed that patient satisfaction was substantially improved; the differences between baseline and the 6-week and 3-month follow-up were significant (p<0.05), and the treatment effect size was W=0.950 (p<0.05). All subjects tolerated the procedure well with transient and minimal side effects. Conclusion: In Asians with mild-to-moderate laxity, absorbable cones sutures produced considerable improvement in mid-face laxity and NLF within three months. The findings were consistent among the three reviewers and were statistically significant (p<0.05). Patient satisfaction was higher at the 6-week and 3-month follow-up compared to the baseline (p<0.05).