Prospective Analysis of Etiologies of Nose Defects in a Tertiary Care Referral Centre

The purpose of the study was to analyze the various causes of nasal defects seen in practice by plastic surgeons in the Department of Plastic Surgery, in a tertiary care North Indian Hospital. The study included all patients of any age and sex presenting to the outpatient department or emergency department with nose defects. The patients were enquired about the cause and history of their nasal defects. The most common etiologies of nasal defects seen were skin tumors of the nose, the most common one being the basal cell carcinoma (BCC) followed by squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and congenital naevus. Both the malignancies BCC and SCC were seen in older age. While BCC was significantly more common in males, a specific gender preference could not be concluded in SCC. Trauma was the next most common cause and included road traffic accidents, assaults, and animal bites. These were more commonly seen in the youth and less commonly in geriatric or pediatric populations. Other less common causes of nasal defects included postburn lesions.

A practical approach to nasal reconstruction in Asian patients

Background: The study aimed to evaluate nasal reconstruction techniques customized for Asians. The currently available nasal reconstruction guidelines are based on Caucasian patients, and their applicability is limited in Asian patients due to differences in anatomical and structural features.Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed of the medical records of 76 patients who underwent nasal reconstruction at a single center between January 2010 and June 2020. A comprehensive evaluation was conducted of patients’ baseline demographics and clinical characteristics, including age, sex, medical history, defect size and location, reconstructive procedure, pathological diagnosis, postoperative complications, and recurrence.Results: In 59 cases (77%), nasal defects resulted from tumor ablation, and the remaining 17 cases involved post-traumatic (20%) and infection-induced (3%) tissue damage. The most common defect location was the alae, followed by the sidewalls, tip, and dorsum. Forehead flaps were the most commonly used reconstructive technique, followed by nasolabial advancement flaps, rotation flaps, and skin grafts. Each procedure was applied considering aspects of structural anatomy and healing physiology specific to Asians. Complications included nasal deformity, hypertrophic scarring, secondary infection, and partial flap necrosis, but no cases required additional surgical procedures. Tumors recurred in two cases, but tumor recurrence did not significantly affect flap integrity.Conclusion: Nasal reconstruction techniques applied considering Asians’ facial features resulted in fewer postoperative complications and higher patient satisfaction than the approaches that are currently in widespread use. Therefore, this study is expected to serve as an essential reference for establishing treatment guidelines for nasal reconstruction in Asians.

Excellency of Converse Scalping Forehead Flap for Reconstruction of External Nasal Soft-Tissue Defects

Introduction Reconstruction of external nasal defects poses a challenge for the plastic surgeons. The scalping forehead flap, first described by Converse in 1942 is a versatile technique for subtotal and total external nasal reconstruction. The flap is extremely reliable with robust vascularity and provides excellent colour and texture match for the external nose with minimal donor-site morbidity. Materials and Methods In this series, eleven patients with external nasal soft-tissue defects (post traumatic and post excisional) were reconstructed with scalping forehead flap; among them four presented with congenital naevus, three with post-traumatic external nasal defect, two presented with basal cell carcinoma, and two with arterio-venous malformation. The age of the patients ranged between 24 and 67 years; eight male and three female patients were included in this study. Among them three had comorbidities like diabetes mellitus and/ hypertension. Results All the flaps survived nicely. I didn’t face any complication in any of my patients. The external nasal defects were reconstructed with scalping forehead flap in two stages with an interval of three weeks in between. Conclusion The Converse scalping forehead flap is an excellent option in the armamentarium of plastic surgeons for subtotal and total nasal reconstruction because of its reliability, vascularity, and simplicity even in the era of microvascular free tissue transfer.

Is reconstruction of composite defects of nose and cheek following tumor excision utilizing subunit principle the best?

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Composite defects of nose and cheek are best stage reconstructed with separate nose and cheek flaps to recreate a blended nose-cheek junction, achieved by cheek advancement flap for cheek and forehead flap or local grafts for the nasal defect. This article analyses whether reconstruction of defects utilizing well-known subunit principle is cosmetically the best?</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> Case records of fifteen patients of nasal cancers extension into the cheek from January 2011 to December 2015 were analyzed retrospectively.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Out of fifteen patients 8 were men and 7 women, two patients had SCC, rest had BCC. Average size of defect was 4.5 cm. Modified Imre’s cheek advancement flaps was used in all to reconstruct cheek defects while paramedian forehead flap was used for nasal reconstruction in 13 patients, skin graft and nasal advancement flap in one each. Eight patients underwent single stage reconstruction while seven with full thickness nasal defects had a delayed reconstruction. 13 patients rated their final appearance as satisfactory, while surgeon rated 12 patients with well-blended nose-cheek junction as satisfactory and lateral migration of junction being unsatisfactory. Alar retraction was observed in two patients with full thickness nasal defects. Two patients who underwent inner nasal lining reconstruction developed wound dehiscence while simultaneous reconstruction of nose and cheek was performed.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Subunit principle application for composite nose and cheek results in symmetrical nose-cheek junction and appears excellent technique in achieving a satisfactory aesthetic outcome. Optimal results in full thickness nasal defects are achieved where reconstructing is delayed.</p>

Tunneled Interpolated Flaps in the Reconstruction of Nasal Defects

The reconstruction of nasal skin defects is a challenge even for an experienced dermatological surgeon. When the defect is too large or complex to be corrected with simpler flaps, interpolated flaps are a good option, but they usually require two surgeries. Tunneled interpolated flaps were developed to allow the reconstruction of complex defects in only one surgical procedure. In nasal reconstruction, the main tunneled flaps are the paramedian forehead and the melolabial flaps. This review will focus on these two flaps: description of the technique, applications, advantages and disadvantages.