A New Alar Base Reduction Technique in Rhinoplasty

Alar base reduction is one of the most challenging parts of rhinoplasty because the maneuvers that are performed during this procedure are nearly irreversible. Some of the important complications of alar base reduction are notching, scarring and unnatural results. In this study, we present a modified alar base reduction technique in order to prevent these complications.

Seventy-five female patients (46 bilateral and 29 unilateral alar base reductions) who needed alar base reduction were operated on consecutively between January 2016 and June 2022 with this new technique. They were compared retrospectively with 67 female patients (41 bilateral and 26 unilateral alar base reductions) who were operated on consecutively with the classical alar base reduction technique between 2010 and 2015. Scar quality was assessed with a modified Stony Brook Scar Evaluation Scale (MSBSES). Three people assessed the overall appearance (resulting in naturalness and symmetry) with a Visual Analog Scale (VAS).

Statistically significant differences were found between classical alar base reduction and modified alar base reduction techniques (p<0.05) according to SBSES scores. Also, VAS scores about the result of naturalness were statistically different between the two groups (p<0.05) (Cronbach's alpha value 0.796). There was no significant difference between the VAS scores of the two groups in terms of symmetry (p>0.05) (Cronbach's alpha value 0.828).

This new modified alar base reduction technique is found to be useful, easy to apply and has better results than the classical alar base reduction technique.

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