History of rhinoplasty
Research status: draft — dates below are as given by the cited source; primary-source check pending for rows marked (W). Lines marked pending or (W) are not yet backed by a primary source and are shown for review.
Two-sentence lead. Nasal reconstruction is documented from the Edwin Smith papyrus and Sushruta's cheek-flap; cosmetic rhinoplasty begins with Roe's endonasal operation in 1887 and Jacques Joseph's reduction rhinoplasty in the 1890s. The modern open approach was revived by Rethi (1934), Sercer (1957), Padovan and Goodman (1970s), and made standard in US plastic surgery by Gunter from 1984.
Timeline
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| c. 3000–2500 BCE | "Treatments for the plastic repair of a broken nose are first mentioned in the Edwin Smith Papyrus" | Wikipedia (W) |
| c. 1550 BCE | Ebers Papyrus describes reconstruction of noses destroyed by rhinectomy | Wikipedia (W) |
| c. 600–500 BCE | "Rhinoplasty techniques are described in the ancient Indian text Sushruta samhita by Sushruta, where a nose is reconstructed by using a flap of skin from the cheek." Eisenberg: "from the writings of Sushruta in 500 BC" | Wikipedia; Eisenberg 1982 |
| c. 25 BCE–50 CE | Celsus, De Medicina | Wikipedia (W) |
| 15th c. | The Branca family of Sicily (arm-flap reconstruction) — "the attainments of the Brancas and Tagliacozzi" | Eisenberg 1982 |
| 1597 | Gaspare Tagliacozzi, De Curtorum Chirurgia per Insitionem — the arm-flap nasal reconstruction | Wikipedia; Eisenberg 1982 |
| 1794 | Letter in the Gentleman's Magazine, London, describing an Indian forehead-flap nasal reconstruction: "A stagnant period of 200 years ended with the revival of the art as a result of a letter published in the Gentleman's Magazine of London in 1794." | Eisenberg 1982 |
| 1814–1816 | Joseph Constantine Carpue performs and publishes two forehead-flap rhinoplasties in England | Eisenberg 1982 (influence on Carpue); Wikipedia (W) |
| 1818 | Karl Ferdinand von Gräfe, Rhinoplastik (coins the term) | Wikipedia (W) |
| 1845 | Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach, Die Operative Chirurgie | Wikipedia (W) |
| 1887 | "In 1887, the otolaryngologist John Orlando Roe performed the first modern endonasal rhinoplasty" (Rochester, NY; the "pug nose") | Wikipedia |
| 1892 | Robert F. Weir — osteocartilaginous hump reduction (Eisenberg: "The introduction of cosmetic surgery by Roe, Weir and Jacques Joseph") | Eisenberg 1982 (W for the year) |
| 1898 | Jacques Joseph, Berlin — reduction rhinoplasty; "the enormous influence of the latter on modern concepts"; Nasenplastik und sonstige Gesichtsplastik (1928) | Eisenberg 1982; Wikipedia |
| 1902–1904 | Freer and Killian — submucous resection of the septum | Wikipedia (W) |
| 1934 | Aurel Réthi — the external (open) approach | Wikipedia (W) |
| 1947 | Maurice Cottle — endonasal septal surgery | Wikipedia (W) |
| 1957 | Ante Šerçer — "decortication of the nose" | Wikipedia (W) |
| 1970s | Ivo Padovan, then Wilfred Goodman — open rhinoplasty revived in otolaryngology | Wikipedia (W) |
| 1975 | Sheen shows dorsal + tip grafting for the supratip deformity at the Millard Symposium | Wikipedia (Jack Sheen) |
| 1978 | Sheen, Aesthetic Rhinoplasty (1st ed.) | Wikipedia (Jack Sheen) |
| 1984 | Sheen, "Spreader graft: a method of reconstructing the roof of the middle nasal vault following rhinoplasty," PRS | PubMed PMID 6695022 |
| 1984 | First Dallas Rhinoplasty Course, Gunter + Oneal | Rohrich, PRS 2018 |
| 1987 | Gunter + Rohrich, "External approach for secondary rhinoplasty," PRS — "In 1987, Gunter reported the technical effectiveness of the open rhinoplasty approach for performing a secondary rhinoplasty" | PMID 3602167; Wikipedia |
| 1997 | The Rhinoplasty Society founded (22 surgeons); first meeting May 1997, president Jack Sheen | therhinoplastysociety.org |
| 2000s–2020s | Component dorsal hump reduction (Rohrich), structure rhinoplasty with costal cartilage (Toriumi), dorsal preservation revival (Saban; Daniel "Preservation Rhinoplasty" 2018), piezoelectric instrumentation | PubMed searches logged 2026-09-08 (PMIDs to be attached in the technique docs) |
Eisenberg 1982 abstract (verbatim, PMID 7051367)
"The history of rhinoplasty, from the writings of Sushruta in 500 BC to the present, is discussed. The interest shown in plastic surgery was sporadic for several thousand years and punctuated by peaks of interest stimulated by the attainments of the Brancas and Tagliacozzi. A stagnant period of 200 years ended with the revival of the art as a result of a letter published in the Gentleman's Magazine of London in 1794. The influence that this description of a forehead flap reconstruction of the nose had on Joseph Carpue and European surgeons, and the effects it had in modern times, are noted. The introduction of cosmetic surgery by Roe, Weir and Jacques Joseph, and the enormous influence of the latter on modern concepts are outlined. The psychosocial aspects of rhinoplasty as it affects the patient and surgeon are discussed, and the challenges facing the discipline evaluated."
Build rule
Rows marked (W) rest on Wikipedia's citation of a primary source. Before the page ships, each (W) row gets its primary citation (the Wikipedia reference list names them: Edwin Smith Papyrus, Sushruta Samhita, Tagliacozzi 1597, von Gräfe 1818, Dieffenbach 1845, Joseph 1928, Roe 1887 in Medical Record).