Dr. Felix Paprottka joined Ocean Clinic last summer as Dr. Kaye’s resident. Since then the pair have been working together on pioneering new facelift techniques.
You’re from Germany, how did you come to be working with Dr. Kaye at Ocean Clinic in Marbella?
“I’d seen Dr. Kaye give keynotes in several congresses and always liked the way he presented his clinic, himself and his ideas. When he was looking for someone to replace Doctor Kaestner´s resident position, he put an announcement on the website of the German Plastic Surgery Society. He said he was looking for a young colleague to join him who was in his final year of training. Someone who had been doing research and taking on various other responsibilities and I was reading it and I was like, ‘Okay, this is me!’
“I was one of three people asked to come for an interview. We met and connected really well. Then I started the adventure of moving from Hamburg, Germany, to Marbella last June. I came just before the last MIPSS Congress, so I went straight into the bright lights. It was a tense time for the team but it helped me to integrate because there were a lot of things to be organised and I could play my part to support them.”
You have been working on some exciting projects over the last eight months. Tell us more...
“Dr. Kaye and I have been working together on several research projects. One of those was using water jet-assisted liposuction to improve facelift results. We finished up the liquid facelift paper in October and it was accepted in the JPRAS Journal, one of the best plastic surgery journals.
“Since then, we’ve put a major focus on other new techniques we are developing right now, called PERF (Posterior Earlobe Rotation Flap) and CMSS (Concha Mastoid Suspension Suture). Sometimes after facelifting there’s a lot of tension on the skin and the underlying fascia structures. This may lead to a distortion of the earlobe. You can see it as the “pixie ear” deformity - where the earlobe is pulled downwards and forwards.
“It’s a stigma for patients who have had facial surgery because people can see that something is not right. Dr. Kaye has developed a technique where you have a rotation flap, which you harvest from the backside of the earlobe and insert it into the earlobe. With this novel method a free earlobe tailoring is possible. If you combine this with a suture you place in the concha and connect to the mastoid, which is the bony part behind the ear, then the ear is fixed in position and stays there. With this new method you do not have a pull on the earlobe, which avoids deformity.”
You are about to have a paper published on this technique, is that right?
“Yes. We have now performed this on over 100 patients and the treatment has been well received. We are the first ones in the world publishing this new technique and right now it looks likely to be accepted in the most well-known aesthetic surgery journal. We are still in the process of pleasing the editors, but so far everything looks really good.”
Is facelift an area of special interest for you?
Face surgery in general is something I find really interesting, in combination with body contouring and breast surgery. Dr. Kaye and I share the same surgical interests. You have a lot of different methods you can apply to achieve beauty, or what you consider to be beautiful.
Your background also includes reconstructive surgery, hand surgery, and burns surgery. How does this experience help you?
“I was lucky to get a residency back in Germany that included training in all four elements which make up plastic surgery - aesthetic, reconstructive, hand and burns surgery. I also received further training concerning burn surgery and intensive care in the university clinic in Hannover where I was in charge of the burn surgery unit.
“I had six severely ill, burned patients on my ward that I had to take care of. It was quite challenging but I think the experience complements my work now, as I prepare to become a specialist performing plastic and aesthetic surgery at a very high standard at Ocean Clinic.”
Is there any area in particular you want to focus on at Ocean Clinic?
“I really like doing research and developing new things. I will present our new PERF and CMSS techniques at a congress in Madrid this May. Then we have the MIPPS congress coming up in June.
“We have a couple of well-known, international surgeons coming to present new neck, facelift and abdominoplasty techniques. Right now we’re testing all the different camera systems, with for example a surgeon´s head-on camera - so we can offer a very good view to those in the auditorium. Really exciting!”
The 3rd Marbella Plastic Surgery Summer School (MIPPS) takes place from June 21-23. For more information visit www.mipps.eu.
