A new modification of Doyle splint (Hemi-split Doyle) in rhinoplasty with alar base reduction

Patients perceive the pulling of a nasal splints as the most feared and stressful part of nasal surgery. Even the incisions made for alar base surgery can partly or entirely dehisce. So, we have been using modified Doyle silicone splints. We compared the modified Doyle silicone splints with conventional Doyle silicone splint. Included in the study were 64 patients undergoing alar base surgery together with open septorhinoplasty. Group 1 (n = 32) patients received a conventional Doyle intranasal silicone splint and group 2 (n = 32) received modified splint that we call a hemi-split Doyle splint. The pain felt by the patients during the removal of the splints was recorded according to the visual analogue scale (VAS). On days two and four postoperatively, the nasal stuffiness score (NOSE) was recorded. On day four postoperatively an intranasal examination was conducted to establish if dehiscence had occurred on the alar base incision line. In group 2, the pain scores during splints removal were significantly lower than those in group 1. Whereas no dehiscence on the alar base incision line was observed after tampon removal in group 2, the incision dehisced in eight patients in group 1. The NOSE scores on postoperative days two and four showed no difference between the groups. The hemi-split Doyle splint causes less pain during removal and particularly does not lead to dehiscence of incisions made during alar base surgery in rhinoplasty patients.