L-Strut Graft: A Very Versatile Graft in the Management of Crooked and Traumatic Noses

Importance: Numerous techniques have been described on the correction of nasal septum in crooked nose or badly deviated septum. To our knowledge, no previous study has been published solely on the value of using an L-strut graft for straightening the nasal septum. Objective: To investigate the use of L-strut graft technique for septal reconstruction in patients with a crooked nose or badly deviated septum. Design: A retrospective study was performed in patients with crooked nose or badly deviated septum who underwent correction by using an L-strut graft from the 1st of January 2000 to 1st of May 2019 at a tertiary referral center and a private hospital by the senior author. Intervention: All patients with crooked noses or badly deviated septums who underwent L-strut graft repair were taken into the study group. Main Outcomes and Measures: Straightening the deviated septum was the primary outcome. Secondary outcomes were getting rid of crookedness: mean deviation angles and distances from the midline in perioperative/postoperative pictures in three main landmarks: rhinion, supratip, and tip; and resolution of presenting symptoms of nasal obstruction. Results: One hundred nineteen patients were included: 65 men and 54 women (mean age 30.7 years). Septorhinoplasty was performed in 71 and septoplasty in 48 cases. The material for L-strut graft was cartilaginous in 100, bony cartilaginous in 11, and bony in 8 patients. The pictures of 21 rhinoplasty patients (10 women and 11 men; mean age 33.48 years) were uploaded into Rhinobase 1.1 for measurements. There was a decrease in the mean and median values in all measurements from the midline between pre- and postoperative measurements. Conclusions: In selected cases of crooked and traumatic noses, the L-strut graft can be helpful to splint and correct the deviated L-strut framework and it can act as a caudal septal extension graft to support the tip.