FPS Facial Plastic Surgery · 2022

Novel Selection Tools in Rhinoplasty Patients

Lekakis G, Constantian M, Most SP, Picavet V, Hellings PW.

What this paper says

A review noting there is no agreed guideline for assessing the psychological profile of rhinoplasty candidates, and introducing tools for identifying who is at greatest risk of a poor outcome.

Overview

The authors state no consensus document or guideline exists to help assess the psychological makeup of people seeking rhinoplasty. Against that gap and recent perspectives from figures in the field, the article surveys the current literature and its gaps, introduces new tools for the preoperative consultation, and addresses how childhood trauma may relate to dissatisfaction after surgery.

Sections of note

Review article; the abstract reports no patient numbers, no outcomes and no follow up.
The stated starting point is the absence of any consensus document or guideline on psychological assessment.
The article offers a survey of the current literature together with the knowledge gaps.
New tools for the preoperative consultation are introduced.
The article aims to help identify which patients are at greatest risk of a poor outcome.
It explains how childhood trauma can be linked to body shame and to dissatisfaction after surgery.

What it means for a patient

Psychological assessment before cosmetic nasal surgery is widely recommended but not standardized.
The article proposes that earlier life experience, not just current expectations, may bear on satisfaction afterward.
No validation data for the proposed tools is reported in the abstract.
Identifying risk is presented as guidance for the consultation, not as a basis for refusing surgery.

Why this paper matters

Dissatisfaction after technically sound rhinoplasty is a persistent problem and its predictors remain poorly defined. This article surveys what is known and proposes additions to the consultation. Whether the proposed tools actually predict poor outcomes has not been tested.

Terms

Patient selection: deciding which patients are suitable candidates for surgery.
Preoperative consultation: the appointment where suitability and plan are discussed before surgery.
Body shame: distress or embarrassment about one's own appearance.
Consensus document: an agreed statement of practice produced by a professional body.
Knowledge gap: a question the existing literature does not answer.

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

From the abstract

“With no consensus document or guideline to help us compute the psychological make-up of rhinoplasty candidates and in the light of new perspectives of some key opinion leaders in the field of patient selection, the goals of this article are to offer a glimpse of the current literature together with the knowledge gaps,…”

Excerpt; the full abstract is on PubMed.