Technical Aspects

Research has shown that the entire facial tissue can be re-vascularized with a single arterial repair on account of the numerous anastomoses in the face. Studies have also shown that the facial artery can vascularize the soft tissue of face and bone.

Unlike limb transplants, facial transplantation are much lengthier procedures. The surgeons need to not only preserve vital nerves, blood vessels, tissue, and bone during their dissection, but also need to make proper cuts so that the donor face can properly adapt to the recipient’s face. All of this requires intense pre-operative planning and intra-operative adjustments. In addition, most patients who require a face transplant have extensive scarring due to their injury or numerous procedures in the past, which adds another degree of difficulty to the procedure.