Pericranial free grafts in the face.

The pericranium is a thin connective tissue coating of the neurocranium that can be used as a free graft for selected facial surgery. To assess the potential use of this graft in the face, we describe our experience over a period of 33 months on 34 patients. Eighty-two individual pericranial grafts were used, with an average of 2.4 grafts per patient. The pericranium was used for augmentations, coatings, and suspensions, with the latter two proving to be the most useful. Like other autogenous grafts, the pericranium may eventually undergo some resorption; however, with experience, overcorrection can be planned. The graft is convenient and easy to harvest, with little or no defect at the donor site. With a mean follow-up of 13.6 months, rejection or infection has not been experienced to date.