Could Nerves Or Muscles Be Damaged in Webbed Neck Surgery?

Q: Dr. Eppley, For webbed neck surgery:

1) what are the risks? – could there be muscle or nerve damage involved?

2) are the imaged photos below the best possible outcome or is there a chance I could see more significant results

A: In answer to your webbed neck surgery questions:

1) Muscle or nerve damage has never yet occurred in webbed neck surgery. So that risk is very low.

2) The purpose of the planning pictures is not to show patients the exact result they will get…as no one can accurately predict any surgical outcome. Rather the imaging is done to show patients what may be the LEAST amount of outcome that I think will happen. In other words if this is the best long-term outcome would the patient still choose to have the surgery? The trigger for surgery should not be hoping for the best outcome. Rather it should be what is the least outcome I can expect. Might the result end up better than the imaging….maybe. But what if it ends up just like the imaging…would you still undergo the surgery?

Dr. Barry Eppley

World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon