Long-term effectiveness of projection control suture in rhinoplasty

The aim of this study is to report the long-term effectiveness of septocolumellar projection control suture (PCS). Fourteen cases underwent rhinoplasty including projection control suture have been included into the study. The long-term effectiveness of PCS is investigated on patients' early and late postoperative photographs. Mean durations between operation and early and late postoperative photographic documentations were 1.28 +/- 06 (range 1-3) and 23.27 +/-7.84 (range 12-48) months, respectively. The measurement of the nasal tip projection by using Goode and Byrd-Hobar techniques were accomplished on the lateral view photographs. The Scion Image software program was utilized for numerical analysis. There was no statistically significant change in nasal tip projection on early and late postoperative periods. The Goode and Byrd-Hobar ratios were measured as 0.584 and 0.572 in preoperative photographs. There were statistical significant differences between the preoperative and postoperative results (p = 0.001 for Goode and p = 0.0001 for Byrd-Hobar). The mean Goode's ratio was 0.614 +/- 0.035 in the early postoperative period, and 0.616 +/- 0.035 in the late postoperative period. The mean Byrd-Hobar's ratio was 0.673 +/- 0.037 in the early postoperative period, and 0,668 +/- 0,039 in the late postoperative period (p = 0.336 for Goode, p = 0.374 for Byrd-Hobar). There was no projection loss in any of our cases after a two years follow-up period. According to these preliminary results on a limited number of patients, PCS seems to be a reliable and effective surgical method to create the desired nasal tip projection for a long time.