A Medical Approach for Rhinoplasty

Abstract

Rhinoplasty is one of the most commonly performed aesthetic surgical procedures in plastic surgery. Over the past 20 years, one of the most gratifying operations performed by facial plastic surgeons remains rhinoplasty. Both surgeries and patients may feel like they are running "home" when everything is running as scheduled, but mutual sadness may also occur when the outcome is different. Many of the typical complexities can be prevented with careful attention to particular operational maneuvers with intentional actions, extra grafts, or more conservative resections during the main rhino-plastic procedure. A view of these retrospective problems may reveal typical risks that are preemptive when the procedure is performed. Due to the subjective character of the esthetic outcome, the identification of problems in cosmetic rhinoplasty is challenging. One may expect rhino-plastic patients more critical of the outcomes, but our experience as well as those of others suggest that the surgeon is more likely than the patient to be satisfied. With a subsequent medial collapse, the ULCs might become destabilized. Moreover, the new dorsal septum produced by the excision of the hump is smaller than the original native dorsum. Even if the ULCs shrink solidly to the septum, a constricted middle vault region will be created.