[Principles of nasal defect repair]

The repair of nasal defects is a frequent challenge to facial plastic surgeons, mainly due to the high frequency of basal cell carcinomas. In general, small defects of up to 1 cm in diameter may be closed directly, whereas larger defects of up to 2.5 cm require the use of local flaps. For more extended defects, regional flaps such as the paramedian forehead flap are the method of choice. These rules have to be modified for the nasal tip, the alar region, the columella and the vestibulum where free skin grafts and auricular composite grafts have to be considered. In order to achieve pleasing aesthetic results, the aesthetic subunits of the nose have to be respected in each situation.