IN THE event of surgical or traumatic disruption of the main trunk of the facial nerve, the surgeon should realign the severed ends primarily or interpose a nerve graft between the two ends. With the immediate repair of a cleanly cut facial nerve the return of tone to the facial muscles is accepted as a good result. Mass motion, the involuntary grimacing of one side of the face with any initiated motion, is considered as the natural companion of the return of good tone.1,2It is, however, never cosmetically acceptable. Voluntary control of the facial muscles innervated by any peripheral branch of the nerve after an intramastoid repair is a bonus no prudent surgeon can expect for his patient. It is a logical assumption that accurate realignment of the fiber bundles within the repaired nerve would enhance the chance of the return of voluntary selective motion. In order to