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Kraissl's lines

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Kraissl's lines are a set of anatomical skin lines:

  • differ from Langer's lines in that unlike Langer's lines, which are defined in term of collagen orientation, Kraissl's lines are are oriented perpendicular to the action of the underlying muscles
    • Kraissl's lines coincides with wrinkle lines, although not always, and tend to be perpendicular to the muscle action
      • Kraissl's lines are found by studying the direction of underlying muscle fiber
        • Kraissl transposed wrinkle lines over diagrams of the underlying musculature and showed that these lines are mostly perpendicular to the muscles
          • he noted that the orientation of attachments between the skin and muscle was largely perpendicular to the underlying muscle
          • collagen runs generally parallel to wrinkle lines and is laid down parallel to scars

Reference:

  • Kraissl CJ. The selection of appropriate lines for elective surgical incisions. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 1951;8(1):1-28.
  • Borges AF. Relaxed skin tension lines (RSTL) versus other skin lines. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 1984;73(1):144-50.

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The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

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