Assessing Adult Patients with Facial Deformities for Injectable Treatment: Do Current Classification Systems and Methodologies Meet Important Patient Needs?

Abstract

BACKGROUND Many individuals are affected by facial deformities. Injectable aesthetic treatments can often be used to improve appearance and/or dynamic function. However, to best meet the needs of these patients, broadly applicable methodologies are required for classifying the deformity, assessing severity, and developing a treatment strategy. OBJECTIVE To assess whether any published systems could be used for this purpose. METHODS Thirty-eight searches were conducted in PubMed (1999–2019; in English). Forty-two publications were identified describing novel classification systems for adult facial deformity. They were analyzed against a checklist of 10 characteristics defining an “optimal” system—based on appropriate anatomical coverage, wide usability across types of deformity, user-friendliness, applicable underlying methodology, and ability to guide treatment with injectables. RESULTS None of the systems met more than 7 of the 10 checklist criteria; none were usable across multiple types of deformity or provided a recommendation for treatment with injectables. CONCLUSION There remains a need for a broadly applicable system for classifying adult facial deformities ahead of injectable therapy. The checklist provides a developmental framework. With the increasing popularity and accessibility of injectables, this diverse and complex demographic is at risk of mismanagement without superior methods for devising treatment strategies.