Cross-face reanimation of the paralysed face, with a single stage microneurovascular gracilis transfer without nerve graft: a preliminary report

This paper describes a method of cross-face reanimation of the paralysed face by a single stage transfer of gracilis. In this method, the nerve to the gracilis is kept long and tunnelled across the upper lip and joined directly to branches of the facial nerve on the normal side. The method avoids the need for a nerve graft and shortens the period of rehabilitation by 12 months. The results in 3 cases were good in 2 cases and fair in 1 case.