Dissolvable Plates for Nose Surgery

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- A new type of dissolving surgical plate is creating opportunities for previously impossible nose surgeries.

Traditionally, surgery to straighten a deviated septum -- the cartilage that separates the nostrils -- was not always possible because manipulations weakened the cartilage. This led to decades of avoiding surgery on the inner nose. Experts say a new plate made of dissolvable material is making such complex surgeries possible.

"Surgical correction of a deviated nasal septum is one of the most frequently performed surgical procedures," study authors wrote. "The use of resorbable polydioxanone plate facilitates this surgical technique."

In a study, nearly 400 patients underwent septoplasty using the plate. No immediate complications like bleeding, inflammatory reactions or tissue death were reported, nor were long-term complications or rejection of the plate.

Of the 396 patients who underwent the surgery, 369 achieved a straight nasal septum, and just as many reported improvement in the nasal passages. Eighteen patients required revision surgery.

"To date, we have encountered no short- or long-term complications as a consequence of the use of polydioxanone plate," the authors concluded. "The use of polydioxanone plate during septal surgery facilitates external septoplasty, corrects several combined nasal deformities such as post-traumatic and iatrogenic [medically induced] irregularities and avoids postoperative saddle nose deformity, without risk to the patient."

Source: Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, January/February 2010

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