Subnasal Lip Lift and Its Effect on Nasal Esthetics

The subnasal lip lift has emerged as a standard procedure for the treatment of an elongated upper lip. Despite its popularity, limited literature has studied its effect on nasolabial esthetics. The purpose of this study is to describe the effect of the subnasal lip lift on nasal and labial esthetic parameters.

The authors conducted a retrospective case review of patients who underwent a subnasal lip lift procedure without concurrent rhinoplasty between January 1, 2008, and December 31, 2019. The outcome variables were lip length, tooth show, vermillion display, alar width, nasolabial angle, columellar-lobular angle, Crumley analysis, and Simons analysis. Preoperative and postoperative values were compared and analyzed using paired sample t-tests.

Overall, 55 female patients with an average age of 52 years and a mean follow-up of 14 months were included in the study. Subnasal lip lift resulted in a statistically significant 21.5% reduction in lip length, 31.5% increase in the vermilion show, and a 1.52 mm increase in tooth show (P < .0001). In relationship to nasal esthetics, there was a statistically significant decrease in nasolabial angle of 4.56° (P < .0001), a 2.2% increase in alar width (P < .001), and a 26.3% increase in nasal projection per Simons analysis (P < .0001). The study did not demonstrate a significant change in columellar-lobular angle or Crumley projection analysis.

Subnasal lip lift procedure can significantly impact lower nasal esthetics, specifically by decreasing the nasolabial angle and potentially contribute to pseudo-overprojection of the nasal tip, as shown by the results of this study.