A syringe instead of a scalpel: the importance of Xeomin for plastic surgeons

A grandiose event took place – official presentation of the new generation botulinum toxin Xeomin. More than 500 aesthetic medicine specialists attended the presentation, hoping to learn as much as possible about the new drug, and among them one could see not only cosmetologists, but also many plastic surgeons. What does the appearance of the injectable drug Xeomin mean for those doctors who are used to wielding a scalpel?
Pavel Andreyevich Denishchuk, a plastic surgeon of the highest category, National Secretary of the International Association of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgeons ISAPS, spoke about this in an exclusive interview for estet-portal.com.

Pavel Andreevich, in your opinion, how significant for the development of aesthetic medicine in Ukraine is the appearance of Xeomin?

It must be said that Ukrainian medicine itself, and plastic surgery, and aesthetic medicine, it is being implemented in European and world medicine, and the best developments that are in the world, they, fortunately, are already appearing in Ukraine. And this is exactly the drug Xeomin, because the most purified and safest option for the use of botulinum toxin is recognized all over the world, which, to date, this drug is.
It can be used to treat those patients who, unfortunately, neither Botox nor Dysport can help. I have been using these drugs for over 15 years, and I already have a group of patients whom I used these drugs successfully in the past, but today I can no longer help them, because these drugs no longer work for them. And no matter how much I try to increase the doses, use other injection methods & ndash; nothing helps, because patients have developed antibodies to these drugs. But, today, there is light at the end of the tunnel, because I can once again offer my patients botulinum toxin injections.

History, literature and scientific studies show that Xeomin can be used in those patients who no longer have a reaction to Dysport and Botox, and they will have an effect.

For me it's just a godsend, for our patients it's just a godsend, and it's a way out. For patients who saw themselves without wrinkles, and who can no longer be helped except for surgery, this will be just a fantastic gift. They will be able to return to simple manipulations and look beautiful using a new generation of botulinum toxin – drug Xeomin.

You have been trained in Xeomin in Germany. Tell us about this experience?

Indeed, by far the most powerful school of using Xeomin is in Germany, and we have had the opportunity to learn from the most serious people, to feel and see how these procedures are carried out. I had training, in particular, with Torsten Volker, who today has the opportunity to tell the theoretical base, show his achievements, and share his experience. Any training for any specialist, be it a surgeon or a cosmetologist, should be beneficial, so that we can transfer our knowledge to our patients, make the procedure as effective, safe, and minimally traumatic as possible. Just these accents were placed on training in Germany, because German specialists fundamentally relate to the issues of patient safety, the optimally effective dose of drug administration, and get the maximum effect. These were the main directions in our training in the use of Xeomin.

Tell me, what does the appearance of Xeomin mean for plastic surgeons?

It is important for plastic surgeons to operate on a patient and then get him out. And so, just to correct adverse events after surgery, for example, to minimize some initial asymmetries, especially with serious surgical interventions on the face, we can use Xeomin. The surgeon knows that six months will pass – all these phenomena will disappear, and everything will fall into place. But for a patient of these six months, it will be a tragedy, and he needs to survive them. Therefore, the use of Xeomin makes it possible to minimize some asymmetric phenomena. There are also many publications regarding the treatment of scars with Xeomin, moreover, there are works that describe that the use of Xeomin, literally, on the third or fourth day after surgery, prevents the development of cicatricial deformities or rough scars. This is a godsend for surgeons, and it must be applied! And, of course, there are patients who want, for example, to operate only on the lower third of the face, but not on the upper third, because they have some concerns. And we can operate on the lower third of the face, and on the upper third, in order, for example, to raise the level of the eyebrows or correct their congenital asymmetry, use botulinum toxin preparations, and then we will get a harmonious and beautiful result.

Do you think that such a progressive development of aesthetic medicine, which is currently observed, can replace the need for surgical methods?

Plastic surgery – This is a method that makes it possible to correct age-related changes. And today we are seeing such a trend that the method of surgical correction has moved away.

If earlier serious surgical interventions in the facial area were performed on patients at the age of 45-50, now I have patients undergoing such serious surgical interventions, mainly at the age of 60-65.

And before that age, there are minimally invasive procedures needed to keep the patient looking cool and looking at himself in the mirror, he was satisfied and happy. But, unfortunately, there comes a time when surgery is indispensable. Therefore, it is important for the surgeon to be in the trend of these changes, and to know when and how we can help the patient if he is not yet ready for surgery. And the patient who should come to the surgeon, he will come, but a little later. But without surgery, today, it is unrealistic. Most likely, in the future, this age limit for surgical interventions will still be moving away, but surgery has a place to be, and it will definitely be.