Pre- and postoperative management of the rhinoplasty patient

The role of the otolaryngologist has widened to include facial cosmetic surgery. As such it encompasses all aspects of age-diminishing surgery as well as facial contour augmentation, surgical and traumatic scar camouflage, and otoplasty as well as rhinoplasty. It necessarily follows that the rhinoplasty surgeon must view the total face rather than the nose in isolation. A complete understanding of the indications and contra-indications of rhinoplasty is necessary for adequate pre- and postoperative assessment of the patient. These ideas are developed and the analysis of the nasal pathology is discussed.