I just got back from Seattle where I was at a medical conference where we were discussing the start of Phase 3 of the facelift study that I have been involved in since the inception of this study. This study is essentially evaluating the benefits, if any, of using Fibrin Sealant under the skin at the time of facelift surgery to help speed recovery and improve results. This study originated with 5 well known facelift surgeons from around the country, including myself, meeting in NYC back in Jan of 2006 and having a “think tank” where we come up with the design of the study.
We then met again in NYC months later and this time there were about 7 of us. We included a few famous facelift surgeons from Europe as well because we wanted the best minds in the business to help make sure we had included all the important variables and endpoints to make the study as legitimate as possible.
We had another meeting in San Diego a year later to kick off the study once the FDA approved the study. The first leg of the study called Phase 2 ran last year where 6 of us from around the country performed facelifts using the Fibrin sealant. We all met again in Miami to discuss the outcome of Phase 2 and what modifications we needed to make for Phase 3. The FDA approved phase 3 and we met again in Seattle last week to kick off the beginning of Phase 3. We will have all of the surgeries completed by October of 2009 and then the study will be closed and we will be able to clearly determine at that point if the Fibrin glue is beneficial or not for speeding the recovery of facelift surgery.