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Filler rhinoplasty produces short-term outcomes comparable with surgery

Filler rhinoplasty produced temporary outcomes that were comparable to surgical augmentation rhinoplasty, according to recently published study results.

Researchers in Seoul, South Korea, retrospectively reviewed the records of 242 patients (91.3% female; mean age, 31 years) who revisited a clinic between 2 and 8 weeks after initial hyaluronic acid filler rhinoplasty. Almost half (47.6%) of the patients were in their 20s, 30.6% were in their 30s, 7.9% were in their teens, 7.9% were in their 40s, and 4.1% were in their 50s or older.

The study included 112 patients who underwent nasal dorsum augmentation, eight who underwent tip rotation and 122 who underwent nose augmentation.

Nasal dorsum augmentation had an average injection volume of 1 ± 0.4 mL, tip rotation had an average injection volume of 0.9 ± 0.3 mL, and whole nose augmentation had an average injection volume of 1.6 ± 0.5 mL.

On follow-up, the radix height increased by 78.3%, the nasofrontal angle increased by 5.7 ± 4.1 degrees and nasolabial angle had increased by 9.4 ± 4.5 degrees. The modified nasofacial angle had decreased by 1.9 ± 2.9 degrees.

Several mild transient adverse events included bruising, headache, swelling and erythema. Three cases of vascular complication were reported, and in all three cases, the fillers were injected with a needle instead of a cannula.

“Filler rhinoplasty offers a compelling alternative to surgical augmentation rhinoplasty in terms of absence of social downtime or surgical complications such as contracture or the thinning of the nasal tip,” the researchers wrote. “In particular, it provides a viable interim solution for patient who wish to obtain surgical rhinoplasty but are too afraid to undergo an operation from the start because filler rhinoplasty can simulate the expected surgical results.”

“Based on the anthropometric analyses, … filler rhinoplasty is a simple yet effective treatment modality producing outcomes comparable with surgical augmentation rhinoplasty albeit relatively short lived,” the researchers concluded. “[We] also demonstrated that dorsum augmentation was the most popular indication among filler rhinoplasty.” – by Bruce Thiel

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.