Postoperative Care in Aesthetic Rhinoplasty Patients

Overview

What happens after rhinoplasty affects both the result and how problems are caught. This article describes the standard postoperative course, when outcome questionnaires should be administered, and the window in which dissatisfaction or complications can be addressed.

Sections of note

• First 24 hours: monitor closely for pain and discomfort, nausea and vomiting.
• Cool compresses should be applied regularly to reduce swelling and bruising.
• Sutures, cast and splints are usually removed during the first week.
• Follow-up then occurs routinely at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months to observe healing.
• Any intranasal and external complications should be noted at those visits.
• Outcome measures such as ROE, NOSE, or SCHNOS should be used 3 to 6 months after surgery.
• The authors state that with close follow-up, unwanted complications or dissatisfaction can be resolved after 6 to 12 months.

What it means for a patient

• The visible hardware, cast and splints, comes off within about a week.
• Follow-up runs for a full year because the nose continues settling well past the point it looks healed.
• Formal satisfaction and breathing questionnaires are given at 3 to 6 months, not immediately.
• Correction of an unsatisfactory result is generally not undertaken before 6 to 12 months, since swelling is still resolving.

Why this paper matters

Aftercare determines when problems are identified and when a revision can reasonably be considered. Fixing a schedule and specifying which instruments to use at which point makes practice comparable. The abstract reports no data on whether this schedule improves outcomes.

Terms

• Ecchymosis: Bruising under the skin.
• Edema: Swelling caused by fluid in tissue.
• Nasal cast and splints: The external dressing and internal supports placed after surgery.
• ROE: Rhinoplasty Outcome Evaluation, a satisfaction questionnaire.
• SCHNOS: A validated survey covering both breathing and appearance after rhinoplasty.