In summary: Septoplasty and rhinoplasty can be performed together. Many plastic surgeons prefer to perform septoplasty a rhinoplasty at the same time to ensure perfect function of the nose.
To understand this , you first have to understand a few basic principles about the nose.
Basics of the Nose
- The septum not only affects nasal breathing and sinus function. It contributes to the shape of the nose, mainly the height of the nose, and how far it projects out at the top of the nose ( i.e. the dorsal hump).
- The septum is one of the best reservoirs for cartilage to use as grafting material for the rest of the nose.
In plain English: the septum plays an important role in the appearance of the nose by contributing to the dorsal hump, or the bump on the top of the nose.
If you have a bump on the top off our nose, or feels likes its rounded, the septum is partly to blame (as are the nasal bones). As a confounding factor, when we perform septoplasty, we can’t take out the whole septum. We should leave 1 to 1.5 cm on the top for nasal stability. That means 1.5 cm of septum should be left at the top of the septum AFTER the hump has is taken down.
Have Rhinoplasty and Septoplasty on the Same Day
If you have a septoplasty and then want to have a rhinoplasty, you must let your surgeon know about your previous surgery.
Why, you ask?
Taking down the hump of 0.75 cm when you only have 1-1.5 cm left from a previous operation will compromise the integrity of the nasal dorsum and only leave .25 to .75 of cartilage in place.
In this instance, if the septum is not supported with additional grafting material and support, it might collapse, leaving a dorsum that has a divet or scooped out appearance.
Furthermore, the septum is one of our best grafting material reservoirs for additional maneuvers for the nose. If you don’t have any cartilage following a previous surgery, other sites must be evaluated, like ear cartilage ( small reservoir with curved cartilage), and rib cartilage from the patient or from a tissue bank, which carries with it addional harvesting risks. If we only perform septoplasty, and remove the crooked pieces of cartilage, they are discarded and forever lost.
Additionally the down time required for rhinoplasty and septoplasty are essentially the same, 7-10 days. So combining the two can be helpful from a planning perspective.
So these are the main reasons that we prefer to perform the rhinoplasty at the same time as septoplasty, because it helps on several different levels. If you are considering have septoplasty and rhinoplasty, visit our website at drundavia.com or email our team at info@drundavia.com.