Background: Rhinoplasty is one of the most commonly performed facial surgeries in the USA. There exist many major and minor nasal tip support structures that impact tip projection. Overprojection may result from anatomic factors or may occur iatrogenically during primary rhinoplasty. Achieving reliable, reproducible, and stable results is the aim of nasal tip deprojection rhinoplasty. This technique is designed to decrease nasal tip deprojection in patients with an overly projected nasal tip.
Methods: A retrospective chart review of 2,003 rhinoplasty cases in the senior author's practice was conducted between July 2014 and June 2022. The inclusion criteria were cosmetic or functional rhinoplasty cases with nasal tip deprojection, with a minimum of 12 months of follow-up. Outcomes of interest included the rate of operative revisions and the rate of postoperative infection.
Results: 447 patients met the inclusion criteria. The mean age of our study group was 32.1 years old, with 409 females. 291 cases were primary rhinoplasties. Mean follow-up period was 22.4 months. Eight patients (1.8%) required empiric antibiotics postoperatively, with 17 patients (3.8%) requiring operative revision.
Conclusions: Our case series demonstrates that combining resection of the medial crura with lateral crural steal and a columellar strut graft allows us to achieve considerable nasal tip deprojection. The comprehensive patient follow-up with a mean of 22.4 months further supports the reliability of our technique.
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