Evaluation of changes in esthetic facial parameters subsequent to rhinoplasty

Document Type : Original Articles

Abstract

Introduction: There is an ever-increasing demand for esthetic plastic surgeries, especially for rhinoplasty. Rhinoplasty influences the results of orthodontic treatment. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate this influence and compare esthetic facial parameters before and after rhinoplasty. Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial the pre-operative and post-operative photographs of thirty-five 20-30 year-old female candidates for rhinoplasty, which had been taken in a standard manner, were evaluated with AutoCAD 2008 software in relation to pre-determined angles and dimensions after written consent forms were signed. Data was analyzed with paired t-test and McNemar’s test (α = 0.05). Results: Before rhinoplasty the median canthus-alar cartilage line crossed through both spots in 20% of the subjects, which changed to 80% post-operatively. The mean of clinical nasal index exhibited a difference of 4; lobular index difference was 2. No significant changes were observed in mean of nasofrontal angle. Nasolabial and nasofacial angles exhibited mean differences of 7 and 1 degrees, respectively. Conclusion: Based on median canthus-alar cartilage line position, rhinoplasty is successful in establishing facial golden proportions. Regarding nasolabial angle and lobular index, the changes were significant post-operatively (p value > 0.001), which means that rhinoplasty successfully establishes normal proportions of these parameters in the face. Changes in other angles and indices after rhinoplasty were all in the standard range and were not statistically significant.   Key words: Analysis, Esthetics, Facial proportions, Rhinoplasty, Soft tissue.