The effect of the tongue in groove technique on the nasolabial angle and nasal tip projection.

[BACKGROUND] The tongue in groove technique (TIG) is a useful technique for the correction of the nasal tip projection and the nasolabial angle. The purpose of this study was to determine the utility of this technique for nasal tip rotation and projection correction in the Iranian society.

[METHODS] This is a retrospective clinical trial study of 20 patients undergoing open septo-rhinoplasty using TIG technique from January 2017 to August 2019 at the oral and maxillofacial unit of Bu Ali Hospital and private sector. Preoperative and postoperative profile view photographs were compared to assess the changes in tip projection and rotation.

[RESULTS] Fifteen patients (75%) had normal angular size, and 5 of them (25%) were not within the normal range after the surgery. The Fisher exact test showed that this success was statistically significant ( = 0.006). Ten patients (50%) had normal projection size, postoperatively. The Fisher exact test showed that this effect was statistically significant ( < 0.01).

[CONCLUSION] The study demonstrated the benefit of TIG on the correction of nasal tip projection and rotation.