Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-18T09:43:16.751Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Principles for correcting the septum in septorhinoplasty: two-point fixation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

N. S. Jones*
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital, Nottingham, UK.
*
Address for correspondence: N. S. Jones, Department of Otorhinolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital, Nottingham NG7 2UH.

Abstract

This article describes the principles which enable a bent septum to be corrected without the loss of tip or supratip support. These principles centre on the need for two points of fixation in order to provide adequate stability for the septal cartilage. These points include the maxillary spine, the vertical plate of the ethmoid bone (at least 4 mm in continuity with the septal cartilage), the vomer, the maxillary crest or suspension from the upper lateral cartilages. A columella pocket offers additional support but cannot be regarded as a primary anchoring point. An adequate height from the maxillary spine to the tip (approximately 28 mm) and dorsal length (24 mm) of cartilage are also needed to support the nasal dorsum. The main strategy for correcting a septal bend which is apparent externally, or a supratip depression is described and centres on the use of cartilage grafts to disguise any assymmetry.

Type
Review Article
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Becker, O. J. (1951) Problems of the septum in rhinoplasty surgery. Archives of Otolaryngology 53: 622639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beeson, W. H. (1993) Septal surgery. In Rhinoplasty. (Daniel, R. K., ed.) Chapter 22. Little Brown, Boston, pp 595609.Google Scholar
Fry, H. (1967) Cartilage and cartilage grafts: the basic properties of the tissue components responsible for them. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 40: 429439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCollough, E. G. (1994) Nasal plastic surgery. In The Crooked Nose. W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia, pp 235245.Google Scholar
Murakami, W., Wong, L., Davidson, J. (1982) Application of the biomedical behaviour of cartilage to nasal septoplastic surgery. Laryngoscope 92: 300309.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rees, T. D. (1986) Surgical correction of the severely deviated nose by extramucosal excision of the osseocartilagenous septum and replacement as a free graft. Plastic Reconstructive Surgery 78 (3): 320330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rees, T. D. (1994) Correction of the deviated nose. In Aesthetic Plastic Surgery(Rees, T. D., LaTrenta, G. S., eds.), 2nd Edition. vol. 1, W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia, pp 293334.Google Scholar
Rubin, F. F. (1969) Permanent change in shape in cartilage by morselization. Archives of Otolaryngology 89: 601608.Google ScholarPubMed
Sessions, R. B., Wenig, B. L. (1986) The nasal septum. In Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. vol. 1, (Krause, C. J., ed.) C. V. Mosby Company, St Louis, pp 673697.Google Scholar
Steffensen, W. H. (1947) Reconstruction of the nasal septum. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 2: 6671.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stucker, F. J. Jr. (1982) Management of the scoliotic nose. Laryngoscope 92: 128133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed