Skull Implants

Q: Dr. Eppley, It’s been over a year since I had my frontotemporal skull implant surgery with you and I’m quite satisfied with how things have turned out. I have noticed however some hollowing near the eye brow roughly at the bottom edge of the temporal implants. This is very minor and I assume something like a filler or minor far transfer could smooth it out. In your opinion would it be safe to use fillers or fat around the skull implant site and its capsule?

A: Thank you for the followup and I am glad to hear that our custom skull implants efforts have come a largely satisfactory outcome. With such a large implant, particularly that extends far onto the temporal areas, it is not surprising that there might be a slight irregularity along one of the edges. I think it would be perfectly safe to use either injectable fillers or fat injections around the implant edges. As long as the capsule of the implant is not penetrated there should be no chance of infection. In order to eliminate the risk of implant capsule penetration any injection material should be done using a blunt-tipped cannula rather than a sharply beveled needle.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana