Dr. Shervin Naderi walks through rhinoplasty risks: bleeding, infection, scarring, and lasting changes to breathing and smell. He stresses doing it in a hospital with board-certified anesthesiologists and realistic expectations. Proper setting and technique make it relatively safe, though risks can't be eliminated.
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December 4, 2014
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So let's talk about risk of rhinoplasty. Rhinoplasty is a surgery. Non surgical rhinoplasty is an option, but rhinoplasty is a surgery and it has surgical risk, anesthesia risk, bleeding, infection, scarring. It's also a structure that has physiology and function. Dryness of the nose, watery nose, smelling issues, breathing issues. There's a lot of things that goes into it. You have to consider the safety factor. I don't like operating in private physician owned surgery centers. A lot of plastic surgeons have a single room in the back of their office or their own small private surgery center and they do surgery there. And some minor surgeries are okay. But rhinoplasty is considered an airway surgery. And it's critical to be in the right setting, at the right hospital or the hospital's own surgery center with the right board certified anesthesiologist, equipment and staff. Aside from that minimizing risk. That way you have to use proper sterile technique, proper instrumentation, pre and post operative antibiotics, and proper care to minimize risk. But there's still going to be risk. And the risks may not be there initially. They can show up with time. And those are the realistic outcomes out of rhinoplasty. While a nosebleed is a risk, healing and changes to the nose over many years to come is also a risk. But it's an expected risk. If you expect to get a nose that's going to stay the exact same way for the rest of your life, that's unrealistic. The risk of rhinoplasty is that the nose will change. But then again, if you don't get a rhinoplasty, your nose will change with time, just like the rest of the face will change with time as well. I like to operate in the proper setting with the proper equipment, proper nurses, proper anesthesiologists, and I do the surgery myself. I don't have any residents or fellows doing the surgery. For me, risks are significant to the surgery. However, I've had it myself, I've done it to my wife, I'll be doing it to other family members. And when you look at the overall numbers of rhinoplasty, the numbers performed in the world, and compare it to risk of bad lethal events occurring. It's one of the more safe operations compared to, for example, tummy tuck or liposuction. Much less lethal events happen post operatively. But there are risks. There is a long, several page consent form that's on the website for patients to be able to read it and understand that this is a major surgery. It's not something minor. It's not to be taken lightly. In some cultures, rhinoplasty is almost a rite of passage. But I want them to know that this is not just a rite of passage or a simple haircut or a facial. It's surgery. Once they're aware of this and they go through with it, then they have the proper expectations and they understand how things are going to heal with time. But the risks can be truly significantly minimized and controlled in the proper setting by the right surgeon, making it a very safe operation.
