Tian Ee SEAH謝 天毅
Patients who present with flat, amorphous nasal tips often request nasal surgeries that will increase their nasal tip projection and give them a more defined nasal tip. Patients with deviated noses will require spreader grafts to help straighten the nose. These patients often require a strong underlying scaffold in the form of a septal extended graft or a spreader graft to achieve the desired result. Traditionally, septal grafts, conchal grafts, or costochondral grafts are used. However, there are cases where there is a lack of septal cartilage. Conchal graft is usually weaker and curved and is not suitable as a septal extended graft. Although costochondral graft is able to provide adequate length and strength, some patients or surgeons may prefer not to have costochondral grafts due to possible complications that may arise, such as pneumothorax and scarring. This has led to a search for an optimal biocompatible alloplastic graft material to be used with ease during rhinoplasty. Polycaprolactone is a widely studied polymer that has been used as a drug delivery vehicle. It is an absorbable material that degrades slowly and has been shown in some studies to induce fibrocartilaginous growth. This lecture will touch on the use of polycaprolactone-based implants as a spreader or compound septal extension graft in rhinoplasty.
