Intradermal Injection of IncobotulinumtoxinA for Face Lifting.

BACKGROUND Intradermal injection of botulinumtoxinA (BoNT/A) has been used off-label by many clinicians for the purpose of face-lifting effect. Some studies on AbobotulinumtoxinA (AboA) demonstrated clinical efficacy on face-lifting effect when comparing to normal saline solution (NSS). So far, there is no split-face comparison study on face-lifting effect of IncobotulinumtoxinA (IncoA). OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to compare the face-lifting effect of IncoA intradermal injection and NSS. METHODS Twenty-two subjects were enrolled and randomly injected with IncoA at 1:6 cc dilution (100 unit or 1 vial in 6 cc of NSS) on one side, and NSS on the other side by using intradermal injection technique. Standardized photographic documentation with 2-, and 3-dimentional imaging system (Vectra H1, Canfield Scientific, Inc, Fairfield, NJ) were obtained at baseline, and at 2 weeks after treatment. The face-lifting effect were graded by the subjects and 2 blinded dermatologists, using photographic comparison. Side effects were also recorded at the end of the study. RESULTS Immediate face-lifting was identified on the side that was treated with IncoA by blinded injectors in 63.6% of patients. Of all subjects, 17 (77.3%) have noticed the improvement of skin laxity on the side that was treated with IncoA at 2 weeks after treatment. The difference in facial contouring volume measured by Vectra H1 imaging system on IncoA side was significantly higher (p=0.033) when comparing to NSS side in patients aged less than 36 years old. However, there was no statistically significant difference in face-lifting when comparing between IncoA and NSS evaluated by 2 blinded dermatologists (p=1.00). Facial asymmetry was found in 36.4% of subjects. CONCLUSIONS This study demonstrated the face-lifting effect of IncoA intradermal injection. Further studies with larger number of subjects and proper method of evaluation should be done to verify these findings. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.