Observation in 23 cases with facial paralysis who were treated by free gracilis muscle transplantation with microsurgical technique

ABSTRACT

The study included 23 patients with long-term facial paralysis due to VII nerve injury who underwent free gracilis muscle transplantation between 1997 and 1999 at Hospital 108. These patients were paralysed for 10 to 36 years. This technique uses free gracilis muscle to replace the paralysed facial skin-adhered muscle, concurrently recover the nervous transmission from normal side to paralysed side.