Rhinoplasty using autologous costal cartilage

Miranda N, Larocca CG, Aponte C.

What this paper says

The authors report their use of rib cartilage for support and contour grafts in 286 selected Latin American patients having open rhinoplasty between 2004 and 2011, and set out when to choose it, how to handle it and where it works poorly; the abstract reports no outcome figures.

Overview

Most Latin American patients seeking a first rhinoplasty have an under-projected tip and a low bridge, so their surgery is about adding structure rather than removing it. In revision cases the septum is often used up or of poor quality. Rib cartilage supplies the volume needed, and the authors present their approach.

Sections of note

Experience with 286 selected patients, open rhinoplasty, 2004 to 2011; the abstract gives no complication, satisfaction or revision figures.
Rib cartilage used for both structural and nonstructural purposes.
Topics: preoperative analysis, criteria for choosing rib as graft material, key aspects of the surgery, and combining rib with heterologous grafts.
The authors state the disadvantages of rib cartilage in specific areas of nasal anatomy.
Context: insufficient or poor-quality septal cartilage is common in secondary cases in their practice.

What it means for a patient

Rib cartilage can supply enough material to build up the bridge and tip in one operation when the septum cannot.
The authors also identify places in the nose where rib grafts work less well, which the abstract does not name.
No outcome or complication data are given, so the safety profile in this series is unknown from the abstract.

Why this paper matters

It is a large Latin American rib cartilage series and part of a Facial Plastic Surgery issue on rhinoplasty in the region. Warping, resorption and donor site rates, the key questions with rib, are not reported in the abstract.

Terms

Autologous costal cartilage: cartilage taken from the patient's own rib.
Structural graft: cartilage placed to support the nose's framework.
Nonstructural graft: cartilage placed to smooth or fill contour without bearing load.
Heterologous graft: tissue from another species or a donor, as opposed to the patient's own.
Septorhinoplasty: rhinoplasty combined with septal surgery.
Tip complex: the tip cartilages and the tissues that shape the lower third of the nose.

Summary written by rhinoplasty.cc from the abstract, 2026-09-08; not medical advice. The authors' own abstract follows.

From the abstract

“Most Latin American patients looking to have a primary septorhinoplasty share common characteristics in relation to an incorrect projection of the nasal tip complex and a low dorsal line. Thus, the frequent use of structural techniques and of surgical enhancement techniques becomes necessary to improve the nasal…”

Excerpt; the full abstract is on PubMed.