External septal reconstruction with the use of polydioxanone foil: our experience

We present our experience and results after using polydioxanone (PDS) foil in septal reconstruction. In a period of 2 years, 12 patients who were admitted in our department with severe septal deviation and breathing problems underwent septoplasty under general anaesthesia. The nasal septum was approached via an external approach. In all patients, after resecting and exposing the septum, the removable piece after being divided into straight pieces, was sutured onto an appropriate sized PDS foil and reimplanted together between the mucoperichondrium flaps. Sutures were placed to fixate the "new septum" to the nasal dorsum and to the anterior nasal spine. The immediate postoperative course was unremarkable and in a follow-up appointment 6 months and 1 year postoperatively, one complication occurred, with septum subluxation noted in one patient. Use of PDS foil in septal reconstruction is an important surgical option for the correction of the markedly deviated nasal septum. Fixation of the straightened and replanted septum at the nasal dorsal septum border with the upper lateral cartilages and at the nasal spine is essential.