Revision rhinoplasty, or corrective nose surgery, is done to correct the undesirable results of a previous rhinoplasty surgery.
Unfortunately, every rhinoplasty surgery may not give the desired results. There may be a wide, bulging or pinched tip, asymmetry, drooping, and an extremely short or upturned (pig-nose) nose.
The nostrils may be asymmetrical or wide. There may be collapse of the side walls of the nose (alar collapse) and difficulty in breathing. There may still be a hump or collapse on the bridge of the nose. The nose may resemble a parrot’s beak (Polly-beak) due to insufficient cartilage removal, or there may be collapse of the bridge of the nose (saddle nose) due to excessive removal of the cartilage.
There may be an inverted V appearance in the middle of the nose, nasal curvature, continuation of the deviation, irregularities in the bridge of the nose, excessive scar tissue development inside and outside the nose, skin and soft tissue problems.
Unfortunately, 7-15% of primary rhinoplasty surgeries require secondary (revision) rhinoplasty. Some of these actions require minor revisions, while others contain major fixes.
In a minor revision surgery, the results of the first surgery are acceptable and only minor touch-ups are required. The patient may be generally satisfied with the look and feel of their current nose, but may require minor revisions.
However, if previous rhinoplasty surgery has caused significant deformities, major corrective revision surgery is required. An unsuccessful rhinoplasty may reduce the patient’s self-confidence and may cause the patient to withdraw from social activities.
In general, such patients are not satisfied with their noses and are afraid of revision surgery. (What if it fails again? Could it get worse? Can I trust my doctor? etc.)
