A Clinical Experience with the Use of Gore-Tex Implant in Augmentation Rhinoplasty

ABSTRACT

The dorsal augmentation is the most common rhinoplastic procedure performed by cosmetic surgeons. To date, however, there are few published cases of rhinoplasty with Gore-Tex in Korea. The present work reports the results of retrospective analysis on photographic reviews and interviews obtained from patients, who have undergone rhinoplastic surgery with Gore-Tex for the past two years in my clinic. A total of 146 patients (23 males and 123 females) with age of 15 to 62 years were monitored for 2 to 24 months after surgery from May 2001 to April 2003. Clinical data was compiled through the in- depth comparison of preoperative and postoperative chart assessment. Both the degree of satisfaction and complaints about foreign body sensations were evaluated based on interviews with patients and measured quantitatively by Leichert scale. The results show that a 75 out of 164 patients were satisfied with surgery outcomes and average points were 3.24(scoring 1 to 5 according to the satisfaction rate). About foreign body sensation, 15 out of 137 patients complained of significant foreign body sensation and average points were 2.12(scoring 1 to 5 according to severity of foreign body sensation). Clinically, the Gore- Tex implant in the cases reported in this study were found to have stability and tissue tolerance.