Reconstruction of Nasal Septal Deformities by L-Shaped Nasal Septal Cartilage.

Lee, Seung Jae; Hong, Sung Hee; Kim, Jin

Original Article

Journal of the Korean Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons 2002;29(5):389-393.
Published online September 1, 2002.

Reconstruction of Nasal Septal Deformities by L-Shaped Nasal Septal Cartilage.

Seung Jae Lee, Sung Hee Hong, Jin Kim

¹Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Eulji Medical College, Seoul, Korea. PS999@hanmir.com
²Dr. Kim's Esthetic Surgery Clinic, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

The most common cause of nasal septal deformity are congenital anomalies and traumatic injury. The nasal deformities are caused by various structures such as upper lateral cartilage, septal cartilage and nasal bone, rather than deformity of single structure. In addition, the nose requires not only aesthetical elements but functional elements, which should be considered during surgery. Toriumi and Russell Ries in 1993 introduced subtotal reconstruction of nasal septum. Severe deformities of the supportive segments of the nasal septum were reconstructed with L-shaped septal cartilage harvested from the posteroinferior region of the nasal septum. We reconstructed 5 patients with secondary cleft lip nose deformity(N = 3) and serious traumatic nasal septal deviation(N = 2) between October 1999 and October 2001. The age of patients ranged from 18 to 45 years(mean 27.4 years). Four were men, one was woman. The follow up period was 4 to 18 months(mean 8 months). All of the patients were pleased with the outcome. There were no occurrences of saddle nose deformity, loss of nasal tip projection, retraction of the columella, perforation of the nasal septum or recurrence of nasal septal deviation. In conclusion, subtotal reconstruction of the nasal septum was performed for patients with severe deformities of the supportive segments of the nasal septum which resulted in success without recurrence and side effects. A longer follow-up period and more cases are necessary to adequately evaluate the efficacy of this method of septal cartilage.

Keywords: Subtotal reconstruction; Nasal septal deformity