Objectives: Contrast between an immutable anatomy and procedures which constantly evolve requires a dynamic vision and knowledge of the surgical anatomy. The surgeon, confronted with the reality of the anatomical risk must regularly re-examine his "basics" in anatomy and adapt them to techniques sometimes very invasive whose aesthetic benefit must be seriously counterbalanced by the operational risk. The authors endeavoured to present the surgical anatomy of the facelifts while insisting on the practical aspects and the concept of the evaluated surgical risk.
Method: Based on more than 15 years experience related on the one hand to more than 400 anatomical dissections of the face and the neck and on the other hand on more than 600 lifts of the face and the neck, the authors analyze the various successive plans from the skin toward the deep osseous plan as they are anatomically and as the surgeon meets them. Each one of these plans is presented according to the various anatomical areas while insisting on its anatomical characteristics and its specific surgical risks.