RESUMO
Perforations of the septum are a well-recognized complication of septal surgery. Most of the post surgical perforations follow the classic Killian submucous resection. Other iatrogenic causes of perforations include cautery, unrecognized or untreated septal hematoma, which becomes complicated by abscess formation and perforation. Twenty patients with septal perforations of less than 2 cm in the cartilagenous septum were selected for this study. Ten cases were repaired with a tragal cartilage-temporoparietal and deep temporal fascia sandwich technique [group 1]. The other ten cases were repaired using endonasal dissection, suture of the borders of the perforation on at least one side and the interposition of a graft of temporal fascia with bone, either a perpendicular plate of ethmoid [four], if available, or mastoid cortex [six], if not [group 2]. A successful complete closure was achieved in three patients, partial closure in other two patients in group 1. While, a complete closure occurred in four patients and a partial closure in three patients in group 2 after an observation time of up to one year. Both techniques may be considered for the repair of septal perforation. The incomplete closure was most probably due to the migration of the graft immediately after surgery. The remaining perforation was in the posterior part of the septum, which was sufficient to relieve the patient of the symptoms. A complete failure of healing may be due to infection. There was no morbidity of the donor site. No major complications were encountered