REVISION RHINOPLASTY

Postoperative pain following a revision rhinoplasty is minimal and well controlled with oral pain medications. Swelling is usually moderate, and may be more than after a primary rhinoplasty. There may be mild bruising. The nose will feel blocked for the first few days due to internal swelling. The tapes and stitches are removed after one week. Downtime is usually about two weeks. By then, about half of the swelling will have subsided and the nose looks fairly presentable. Exercise can be resumed after one month. The swelling from a revision rhinoplasty may ultimately take longer to completely subside compared to a primary rhinoplasty, although by one month postoperatively the majority of the swelling is likely to have subsided.

Revision rhinoplasty does not necessarily carry increased risks than primary rhinoplasty as long as the principle of not using an implant to create the new tip is adhered to. Having only the patient’s own cartilage in the nasal tip greatly enhances safety and protects the tip from infections and extrusions. Blood loss may be slightly increased in a revision but is usually still not significant. As with a primary rhinoplasty, the risk of the implant tilting or going out of position is minimized by judicious selection of implant size and shape, good surgical technique, and careful and close monitoring and adjustment (where necessary) of the implant position during the recovery period.

A revision rhinoplasty will usually be more costly than a primary rhinoplasty because it is more difficult, complicated and time consuming. This is unfortunately unavoidable and applies to virtually all types of revisionary surgery. However, it is usually possible to successfully correct most types of suboptimal results from primary rhinoplasties by using the techniques described above, and patient satisfaction levels therefore tend to be high. This makes the higher cost worthwhile in terms of the benefits obtained.