Delayed-Onset Edematous Foreign Body Granulomas 40 Years After Augmentation Rhinoplasty by Silicone Implant Combined with Liquid Silicone Injection

Overview

Augmentation rhinoplasty is common in Asia, but the authors state that reports on how a solid implant interacts with injected filler in the same nose are scarce. This report documents one patient in whom that combination produced a delayed inflammatory reaction four decades later, and describes what was found at the second operation.

Sections of note

• Single case report; level of evidence V.
• The original procedure combined a silicone implant with a liquid silicone injection.
• The reaction appeared 40 years after that original surgery.
• The diagnosis was delayed-onset edematous foreign body granuloma.
• The authors state this is the longest reported interval between initial rhinoplasty and worsening of a foreign body granuloma.
• The report presents intraoperative findings on the interlocking structures formed between the silicone implant and the injected liquid silicone.
• The abstract gives no patient age or sex, no treatment details, and no outcome after the corrective surgery.

What it means for a patient

• A reaction to nasal implant or filler material can appear decades after the original operation, not only in the first months or years.
• Combining a solid implant with injected liquid silicone in the same nose is the specific situation described here.
• Liquid injectable silicone is a permanent material and cannot be dissolved the way temporary fillers can.
• This is one patient, so it establishes that such a delay is possible but says nothing about how often it happens.

Why this paper matters

Liquid silicone injection was used widely in past decades and many people still carry it. This case documents that the resulting inflammation can surface after 40 years, which matters for anyone assessing an old augmented nose. The abstract does not report how the condition was treated or how the patient did afterward.

Terms

• Augmentation rhinoplasty: An operation adding height or volume to the nose.
• Foreign body granuloma: A lump of inflammatory tissue the body forms around a material it cannot break down.
• Edematous: Swollen with fluid.
• Delayed onset: Appearing long after the causing event.
• Liquid silicone injection: A permanent injectable filler no longer in standard use.
• Intraoperative findings: What the surgeon observes during the operation itself.