Augmentation rhinoplasty with mortised septal cartilage

Area of Science:

• Plastic Surgery
• Biomedical Engineering
• Orthopedic Surgery

Background:

• Nasal dorsal augmentation often requires large cartilage grafts.
• Fabricating large, structurally sound grafts from smaller cartilage pieces can be challenging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe and evaluate a novel mortise/tenon joint technique for synthesizing autologous septal cartilage into a large dorsal onlay graft.
• To assess the functional geometry, surgical application, and clinical outcomes of this graft fabrication method.

Main Methods:

• Development of a mortise/tenon joint for connecting discontinuous autologous septal cartilage segments.
• Detailed presentation of the surgical technique for nasal dorsal onlay grafting using the fabricated graft.
• Review of clinical outcomes in 16 consecutive cases.

Main Results:

• The mortise/tenon joint allows for the creation of a structurally sound, large dorsal onlay graft from multiple cartilage pieces.
• Excellent results were achieved in 14 out of 16 cases.
• Analysis of two unfavorable outcomes provided insights for technique refinement.

Conclusions:

• The mortise/tenon joint is an effective method for fabricating large, strong dorsal onlay grafts from septal cartilage.
• This technique offers a viable solution for nasal dorsal augmentation, enhancing graft integrity and surgical outcomes.