Do You Perform Large Skull Reductions?

Q: Dr. Eppley, Specifically, I would like to know whether your practice performs circumferential outer‑table bone burring or other techniques that reduce the overall circumference and height of the head (rather than simply smoothing bumps or adding implants).

Could you please let me know if you offer true skull‑size reduction? Just want things to be super clear before I make this very important decision, appreciate your understanding.

A: Outer table bone removal is the only way to do almost any skull reduction procedure. It is simply a matter of how much surface area of the skull that needs to be treated and what is the incisional access needed to do so. For larger surface area skull reductions a bicoronal scalp incision is needed. The other important issue is how thick is your outer table and is it thick enough that its reduction would make it worthwhile. This is why a 3D skull CT scan is needed to make that assessment.

Dr. Barry Eppley

World-Renowned Plastic Surgeon