Rhinoplasty

For whom ?

Rhinoplasty is of help to persons who suffer from the shape of their nose. People usually come to the decision of undergoing surgery quite early, between the ages of 17 and 35.

Aims

Most frequent anomalies that rhinoploasty can correct are :

• Traditional hump of the nose,
• The nose being bulky and prominent,
• The kind of swollen and post-traumatic nose of a boxer or a rugby player,
• twisted nose,
• various anomalies of the tip of the nose.

Following an examination for rhinoplasty, your maxilla-facial surgeon may be tempted to suggest in conjunction with rhinoplasty a plastic surgery of the chin (genioplasty). Indeed, a nose which is thrust forward and prominent to excess (with a large hump for example) is very often associated with a fleeing chin, very much to the rear (retrogeny). We know that carrying out a profiloplasty (combining rhinoplsty and genioplsty) is likely to yield a much better cosmetic result than just a rhinoplasty (rendering a too much convex profile straighter).

Before the operation

Your medical check-ups

Between one week and one month prior to your operation, you must make an appointment with a medical tests laboratory in order to undergo a full pre-surgical check-up. A specialized ophthalmological examination will be required as a complement so as to identify a possible ocular pathology.

The tests results must be sent to us (by fax, or by e-mail) so that they can be seen and read by our anesthetist doctor. Depending on the test results, other examinations may be required. If you are unable to carry out your examinations before your departure to Tunisia, there is always a possibility to do that on the spot, the day before the operation. It must be known that if there is a contra-indication to your operation, the anesthetist doctor has the right to put off or cancel the operation. No medication containing aspirin should be taken at least 10 days before the operation. You must mention any type of medication you may have taken. It is essential that you refrain from eating, drinking, and smoking for 8 hours before the operation.

your luggage

Regarding your luggage, you must bring sunglasses, one or two scarves (to cover the bruises), a hat or cap, and full sun block cream.

Getting ready for the operation

You will be taken to your clinic the night of the operation, the time to get settled in your room, to take a shower if needed and to meet with the medical team: your surgeon, the anesthetist doctor, and all the health care staff. The operation takes place the following morning. Very often, the night before the operation, the nurses will give you a kind of pre-medication in the form of a light tranquilizer to make sure that slightly anxious patients to face the operation with more fortitude.

Type of anesthesia

Rhinoplasty is carried out under full anesthesia.

Duration of the hospital stay

3 nights.

Duration of your total stay in Tunisia

6 nights / 7 days.

The operation

A rhinoplasty operation can be carried out in different ways according to each case:

• A nose which is too long: the cut occurs at the level of the bone and the cartilage by separating the skin from the internal mucus of bones and cartilage. We unglue and replace the side faces of the nose in the desired position. We keep the tip of the partition to avoid any risk of collapse or swelling then we reshape the wings’ cartilage.
• A nose which is too large: we bring the appropriate bones together to refine it.
• A too big nose tip: we try to bring the side walls together and then we reduce excess cartilage to reduce its width and sharpen the corner/the ridge.
• A hollow nose: We carry out a bone-cartilage transplant taken from the nose partition or the lobe of the ear.
• A short nose: we need a bone substance input, if skin and mucus are enough to cover it.
• A deformed nose: We can improve it or repair it through a cartilage transplant, taken locally as sample or from the ear.

At the end of the operation, the endonasal incisions are stitched by an absorbable thread. Skin incisions that are likely to occur will generally be stitched using non-absorbable threads which are to be removed after the operation.

Duration of the operation

The duration of a rhinoplasty is between and 1 and 2 hours.

After the operation

After the operation, surveillance will take place in a waking room, then in your room. In general, rhinoplasty is not very painful. A bandage with iced compresses may be applied for some hours, insuring that eye lid edema development is kept to reasonable limits. Compresses are removed very frequently during the first 24 hours.

Post-surgical effects

Post-surgical effects include:

• Pain at the level of the surgery areas which will give way when administering analgesic and prescribed anti-inflammatory substances.
• Edema and hematomas that are more or less important will manifest themselves through ecchymosed substances in glasses that concern the 2 orbiter regions. They remain present for a period of 10 to 20 days.
• Your nose remains fragile and vulnerable for one month. It is necessary to avoid all risks of shock (namely as a result of sports activities) during this period.

Results

At the removal of the external nasal contention, your nose will be often slightly showing edema. We already have a clear idea of the cosmetic result of the operation but one has to wait at least for 4 to 6 months to see the definitive outcome of the surgery.

Work interruption

There is no need for interrupting the work: the recovery stay spent in Tunisia following the operation is very beneficial and enables most of our patients to resume their professional activities as soon as they return home.

Fees

The fees for a simple rhinoplasty is 1800 euros.
The fees for a sophisticated rhinoplasty is 2000 euros.