Nonsurgical Rhinoplasty

Rohrich R, Alleyne B, Novak M, Bellamy J, Chamata E.

What this paper says

A review stating that filler rhinoplasty costs less and involves less downtime than surgery, but carries rare risks of tissue loss and irreversible blindness that patients must be counselled about.

Overview

Nonsurgical rhinoplasty is increasing in popularity and, used appropriately, can be less costly with less recovery time than surgery. The authors note it can also let patients see how they would feel about a surgical rhinoplasty later. They emphasize counselling about the rare but serious risks and stress the importance of an experienced, qualified surgeon.

Sections of note

Review article; the abstract reports no patient numbers, no rates and no follow up.
The stated advantages are lower cost and less downtime than surgical rhinoplasty.
It can offer patients a preview of how they would feel about surgery later.
Injection is stated to be safe when done appropriately.
Patients should still be counselled about rare risks of tissue loss and potentially irreversible tissue ischemia.
Irreversible blindness is named as a possible risk.
Treatment with hyaluronidase can be partially effective when signs and symptoms are caught early.
The authors state avoidance is still the best approach, alongside seeking an experienced qualified surgeon.

What it means for a patient

Filler in the nose can cause blindness if it enters a blood vessel, and the review states this can be irreversible.
The reversal agent works only partially and only if the problem is recognized early.
No rates are given for any of these risks in the abstract.
The claim that filler previews a surgical result is the authors' framing, not a measured finding.

Why this paper matters

Filler rhinoplasty is marketed as a low commitment alternative to surgery, and its worst outcomes are more severe than those of the operation it substitutes for. This review states both sides plainly. It supplies no figures with which to weigh them.

Terms

Nonsurgical rhinoplasty: reshaping the nose with injectable filler instead of surgery.
Hyaluronidase: an enzyme injected to dissolve hyaluronic acid filler.
Ischemia: loss of blood supply to tissue.
Tissue loss: death of skin or other tissue, usually from lost blood supply.
Downtime: the period of recovery before returning to normal activity.

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

From the abstract

“Nonsurgical rhinoplasty is increasing in popularity, and when used appropriately, can be less costly and have less downtime than surgical rhinoplasty. It can offer patients a means of seeing how they would feel about a surgical rhinoplasty later. Injection can be safe but patients should still be counseled regarding…”

Excerpt; the full abstract is on PubMed.