Use of nasal septal bone to straighten septal L-Strut in correction of east Asian short nose: A retrospective study.

[BACKGROUND] The perpendicular plate of ethmoid (PPE) was used to correct short noses in rhinoplasty in Asians, but the safe harvest of the plate and the assessment of its clinical application has been perplexing to plastic surgeons.

[AIMS] To explore how to safely cut the perpendicular plate of ethmoid bone and evaluate its application effect.

[PATIENTS/METHODS] A finite element model was established to guide the clinical operation. A total of 30 patients with short noses were selected. Among them, 15 patients used autologous septal cartilage to lengthen the nasal tip, and 15 patients used the PPE to strengthen the L-shape nasal septum. The differences in the esthetic parameters of the nose, complications, and patients' satisfaction were compared between the two groups.

[RESULTS] Significant differences were noted in the nasal dorsal length (p = 0.001), Goode's ratio (p = 0.001), and nasofrontal angle (p = 0.003) after rhinoplasty, and no significant differences were noted in any of the esthetic parameters between the two groups. The symptoms of nasal obstruction in the experimental group were significantly lighter than those in the control group (p = 0.04). There was no statistically significant difference in the doctors' assessment of outcomes between the two groups (p = 0.48).

[CONCLUSION] The safest region to harvest the PPE is in the middle and lower third. Rhinoplasty improves the esthetics of the patient's nose. The PPE used to strengthen the L-shape nasal septum structure has a smaller probability of nasal septal deviation with the time in Asian short noses.