Nasal fracture management: minimizing secondary nasal deformities

Current management techniques for acute nasal fractures result in a high incidence of posttraumatic nasal deformity (14 to 50 percent). Associated traumatic edema, preexisting nasal deformity, and occult septal injury account for most of these acute reduction failures. Working with a detailed patient history and a physical examination that included rigid nasal endoscopy, the authors formulated a clinical algorithm for acute nasal fracture management, the use of which can reduce the incidence of posttraumatic nasal deformity. In this article, the authors review the literature, then discuss their management techniques over the past 11 years in 110 cases with a 9 percent nasal revision rate. This low incidence of revision is attributed to complete nasal assessment (bony and septum), use of outpatient controlled general anesthesia, and primary septal reconstruction in cases with severe septal fracture dislocation.