Does the Webster's Triangle Preservation Really Matter? A Retrospective Analysis of the Low-to-Low Osteotomies in the Head of the Inferior Turbinates.

[BACKGROUND] Osteotomies are important maneuvers in the plastic surgeon's arsenal for the nasal dorsum treatment. However, there is a concern regarding a possible medialization of the inferior turbinate's heads and narrowing of the internal nasal valve if the Webster's triangle is not preserved.

[OBJECTIVES] To analyze the mobilization of the inferior turbinates during primary rhinoplasty after lateral osteotomies.

[METHODS] This is a retrospective study in which we analyzed 37 patients who underwent very low-to-low osteotomies in our service, during primary rhinoplasties. Axial and coronal computed tomography scans were obtained, and preoperative and 6 months postoperative images were compared with Radiant DICOM Viewer software (Medixant, Poznan, Poland) in 3-dimensional multiplanar reconstruction.

[RESULTS] There were no statistically significant differences between preoperative and postoperative measurements of the lower turbinate's osseous bases, both in axial ( = .305) and coronal ( = .08) images.

[CONCLUSIONS] Low-to-low osteotomies showed no medialization of the inferior turbinate's heads or narrowing of the internal nasal valve in this study.