A systematic review and meta-analysis of the efficacy and complication rates of augmentation rhinoplasty with autologous cartilage and silicone prosthesis.

[BACKGROUND] Rhinoplasty is one of the most common operations in plastic and aesthetic surgery. Both solid silicone material and autologous cartilage (AC) tissue have their individual advantages and disadvantages. In this meta-analysis, the efficacy, complication rate of rhinoplasty with AC and silicone material were comprehensively analyzed and compared.

[METHODS] The databases Medline, Embase, PubMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Wanfang were searched by rapid matching of keywords to obtain randomized controlled trials related to AC rhinoplasty or silicone filled rhinoplasty, which were analyzed using the software Stata 16.0 after screening and quality assessment.

[RESULTS] A total of 1,233 patients undergoing rhinoplasty from 7 articles were included in the study. Meta-analysis showed that rhinoplasty with AC would gain more satisfaction [risk ratio (RR) =1.11; 95% confidence interval (CI): (1.02, 1.21); Z=2.413; P=0.016]. would reduce the complication rate [RR =0.34; 95% CI: (0.22, 0.52); Z=-5.010; P<0.0001], and resulting in less secondary surgery rate [RR =0.34; 95% CI: (0.18, 0.64); Z=-3.363; P=0.001] comparing to silicone prosthesis (SP) material.

[DISCUSSION] In rhinoplasty, the use of AC material gains more satisfaction, has less total complication rate, and results in less secondary surgery rate than silicone material. But based on the heterogeneity and publication bias in the studies, this topic still needs to be further explored by including more high-quality studies.