■ Hispanic/Latin Rhinoplasty – dealing with thick skin and poor framework
LEVEL
B – Comprehensive
CONTENTS
Mestizo is a term that is used to identify patients from hispanic or Latin American origin. Mestizo patients are usually mixed raced patients (a combination of white, black and indian) coming from any of the countries of South America. Anatomically speaking, mestizo noses are noses that tend to have a thick skin-soft tissue envelope, a poor bony and cartilaginous framework, and limited amounts of septal cartilage for grafting. Rhinoplasty in these patients is performed following a structuring concept: conservative tissue excision, reinforcement of support structures of the nose, improvement in rotation, projection and definition using sutures and grafts. The challenge is to create a nose that looks refined without looking bigger. This is obtained using sutures, cartilage saving techniques and grafts.
OBJECTIVES
- Define and understand the term “Mestizo”.
- Discuss the different medical and surgical options to manage the thick- skinned mestizo patient.
- Know what structural grafts can be used in a reliable fashion in primary mestizo rhinoplasty patients.
- Understand the different cartilage saving techniques that can be used.
- Choose the proper suturing techniques that will increase definition and rotation and projection of the mestizo nasal tip.