Factors that contribute to disagreement in satisfaction between surgeons and patients after corrective septorhinoplasty

Corrective septorhinoplasty is one of the most common facial plastic surgeries. However, surgeons and patients sometimes disagree about postoperative-outcome satisfaction after corrective septorhinoplasty.

We investigated the factors that influenced the disagreement in satisfaction between surgeons and patients after corrective septorhinoplasty.

Surgeon satisfaction was assessed by other plastic surgeons by comparing patient photographs taken at the preoperative and 12-month postoperative periods. Patient satisfaction was assessed by the Rhinoplasty Outcome Evaluation Questionnaire (ROEQ) before surgery and 12 months after surgery. The dissatisfied group was defined as showing a negative change or no change in the ROEQ quartile between baseline and 12 months after surgery.

A total of 70 patients were included. No significant differences were observed between the satisfied and dissatisfied groups in sex, marital status, depression history, and major anesthetic problems. However, the dissatisfied group was significantly younger, more likely to be employed, and better educated than the satisfied group. In addition, a multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that being highly educated was a predictor of disagreement in satisfaction between surgeons and patients.

Our findings indicated that highly educated patients who underwent corrective septorhinoplasty required more detailed preoperative guidance, including more complete information on the limitations of the surgery.