Auricular Composite Graft Survival in Rhinoplasty

Auricular composite grafts can be used in rhinoplasty to correct defects of the internal nasal valve, ala, vestibule, sill, and external nose. The objective of this study was to measure the auricular composite graft (ACG) survival rate and patient-reported outcome with Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) score among patients undergoing rhinoplasty. A retrospective chart review was performed of all patients who underwent rhinoplasty with ACGs from 2002 to 2019 by the senior author. Median patient age was 42 years (range 14-79) with 80.3% being female. In total, 234 rhinoplasty procedures were performed utilizing 367 auricular composite grafts. Secondary rhinoplasty (n = 160, 68.4%) was the most common. And 93.7% of ACGs had full take. There were 23 partial or total graft failures, producing graft failure rate of 6.3%. Mean preoperative NOSE score was 24.08, and mean postoperative NOSE score was 21.84, with a p-value of 0.63. Auricular composite grafts can be used to repair a wide range of defects of the internal nasal valve, nasal sill-ala junction, nasal vestibule, and external nose.