Regional Variations in Nasal Parameters in South India: A Descriptive Study

This paper aims to evaluate and standardize measurements of 11 nasal parameters specific to the South Indian population. This is significant because different ethnicities exhibit varying nasal proportions. The findings of this study will serve as a foundation for rhinoplasty procedures performed on the South Indian population as currently there is a lack of literature in this area of study.

A total of 136 young individuals of age group 18-30 were taken as a sample; 34 from each state that is Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh were taken up for the study. Standardized photographs of the nose were taken. Eleven nasal parameters were measured using Digimiser software and analyzed.

Eight out of eleven parameters have statistically significant differences among the population of all four South Indian states, while three parameters did not have much of a statistically significant difference.

When compared to the standard values of nasal parameters of the Indian population, only radix height and nasolabial angle were similar. The nasal index of all four South Indian ethnicities was platyrrhine. The nasal parameters did not differ among males and females in all the four South Indian populations.