Professor Chosun University Hospital Gwangju, Kwangju-jikhalsi, Republic of Korea
Disclosure(s):
Ji Yun Choi, MD: No relevant relationships to disclose.
Introduction: Tip plasty using a septal extension graft (SEG) is useful in the Asian population. However, complications such as decreased tip projection, infection, or deviation are noted post-surgery, and additional support using an SEG is often necessary. We aimed to transplant an additional 3D printed polycaprolactone (PCL) graft to the tip plasty using the SEG to reinforce the SEG.
Methods: The study included 43 patients (20 males and 23 females; mean age, 28.7 years; range, 17–58 years) who received rhinoplasties using the SEG method combined with a 3D printed PCL graft from November 2016 to August 2017. The mean observation period was 14.8 months (range, 12–20 month
Results: Twenty-six patients rated their satisfaction level as excellent, 13 rated good, 3 rated fair, and 1 rated poor. In total, 28 patients did not exhibit tip drooping at the 1-year follow-up; 13 patients demonstrated mild to moderate tip drooping, and 2 patients demonstrated severe tip drooping. Thirty-one patients demonstrated “stiffness” of the nasal tip, of which 11 patients reported discomfort, and 20 patients reported none; two patients demonstrated deviation of the tip.
Conclusions: The main problem of tip plasty arises in Asians when not enough cartilage is used to raise the nasal tip, or if it is too weak; in these cases, it is difficult to raise the nasal tip sufficiently. A 3D-printed PCL graft to the tip plasty using an SEG to reinforce the SEG and provide additional support to the tip, as well as strengthening and straightening support to the SEG was proposed in this study. However, care needs to be taken to prevent complications such as tip stiffness, tip drooping, deviation, extrusion, and infection. Therefore, a PCL graft designed by a 3D printing method can serve as a biocompatible, rhinoplastic, and facial plastic material in the future.
