Reconstruction of the nasal septum using polydioxanone plate

To evaluate the usefulness of resorbable polydioxanone plate attached to nasal septal cartilage in external septoplasty, to assess its mechanical stability until healing of cartilage fragments, and to describe the surgical technique and clinical experience.

External septoplasty with polydioxanone plate has been performed in 396 patients since 1996. Indications were severe septal deformities (usually posttraumatic). Surgery included removal of the quadrilateral cartilage and division into straight fragments, which were sutured to resorbable polydioxanone plate and replaced as a free graft. If the nasal septal cartilage was partly or completely missing because of prior surgery or trauma, the missing cartilage was supplanted with auricular conchal cartilage. The study settings were Medicent Linz, Linz, Austria, and the Ear, Nose, and Throat Department, General District Hospital Steyr, Steyr, Austria.

Functional and cosmetic outcomes were satisfactory. All patients experienced varying degrees of improvement in nasal blockage. There were no immediate (bleeding, septal hematomas, inflammatory reactions, or necrosis) or long-term (septal perforation, thickening of the nasal septum, or rejection of the implant) complications.

Use of polydioxanone plate attached to nasal septal cartilage facilitates surgical correction of severe septal deformities and supports the nasal dorsum until healing.