Rhinoplasty and image editing

Dr. Garcia Ceballos, plastic surgeon in Palma de Mallorca, would like to share valuable information on the diagnosis of nasal deformities using image editing. Surgeons specializing in rhinoplasty often face challenges such as reducing the nasal dorsum, decreasing the volume of the nose, and modifying the position of the tip. These parameters are susceptible to change during rhinoplasty.

It is crucial to know the internal structures that we will encounter during surgery. For this purpose, a series of diagnostic tests are performed, which may include X-rays, cranial CT, MRI or ultrasound. However, the question arises as to how to visualize the internal shape of the nose before the operation. This is where image editing becomes a simple, economical and effective tool to diagnose the internal elements necessary for accurate rhinoplasty.

Through image editing, it is possible to define more precisely which procedures should be performed during the operation and to communicate this clearly to patients. For example, it is essential to know whether specific septal cartilage or costal cartilage will be needed to reconstruct a particular nasal area.

Let’s illustrate this with a clinical case. In the preoperative images, we observed a nasal dorsum from two perspectives, one more zenithal and the other more frontal, with no apparent alterations. However, by image editing, a shadow defect is detected in the region of the left triangular cartilage. During the surgical procedure, this defect corresponds exactly to an anatomical anomaly in the left angular cartilage. Correction was performed intraoperatively by applying spread grafts, or spacer cartilages, in that specific area. The final result shows a successful correction, previously predicted thanks to diagnostic imaging.

We hope this explanation of image editing for the diagnosis of nasal deformities has been of interest to you. If you have any specific questions or concerns about this or other rhinoplasty topics, please do not hesitate to contact us.