Strut Graft with Septal Cartilage for Nasal Tip Plasty; Increment of the Nasolabial Angle

Park, Sang Hyeon; Yoo, Won Min; Park, Chul; Park, Beyoung Yun

Abstract

There are several characteristics of the nasal tip of Orientals. The skin is thick with severe tension and a bulbous nasal tip, the nostrils are wide, and the projection of the nose is limited due to a poorly developed alar cartilage with a short columella. Until now, in order to well outline the nasal tip and project the nose, the alar cartilage was realigned, the domes of the cartilage sutured together, silicone or cartilage was used to improve the appearance of the tip. However, it was difficult to achieve satisfactory results in Orientals due to a short columella and a acute nasolabial angle. From May 1998 to March 2000, the authors attempted to realign the alar cartilage with an open rhinoplasty approach and used the septal cartilage to project the nasal tip and lengthen the columella by designing the increased nasolabial angle in 20 cases. The cartilage was then inserted in the alar cartilage and fixed on the anterior nasal spine. The results, considered satisfactory in all patients without any complications, are as follows: 1. The changes of nasolabial angles were from 88.7 degrees to 95.3 degrees, 2. The average increase in columellar height was 3.5 mm, 3. The average decrease of the alar width was 3.0 mm, 4. The changes of the angle between the long axis of the external naris was from 92.2 degrees to 71.5 degrees. This procedure is an effective method in improving nasolabial angle and columella length.