Question:
After a major car accident I suffered a frontal sinus fracture—I have since recovered. I am now interested in an endoscopic forehead lift, but have been told that the procedure may be risky because of my previous injury. Why is this?
Answer:
I hope that you have fully recovered from you frontal sinus fracture. The first question that I would ask you prior to performing an endoscopic forehead lift on you is how severe was the frontal sinus fracture. If both the anterior and posterior tables of the frontal sinus were fractured in the accident, and extensive surgery needed to be performed to treat your fracture, then I feel that any elective forehead lift procedure may have too high risk to be worth performing. However, if only the front bone of the frontal sinus was fractured, and if the fractures have healed appropriately, I feel that an endoscopic forehead lift or an open forehead lift can be performed safely. The issues of increased risk would be related to the location of the original fracture lines, and any anatomy of the forehead that may have been distorted following the injury making it more difficult to identify the nerves of the forehead. If there was any chance that brain could be violated during the procedure, I would absolutely object to having the forehead lift procedure performed.
Posted by Dr. Philip Schoenfeld