Design and Application of a Novel Silicone Nasal Implant

BACKGROUND: Traditional silicone implants used in augmentation rhinoplasty lead to postoperative complications. OBJECTIVES: To introduce a novel silicone implant designed to reduce postoperative complications. METHODS: The author designed a novel modification for the traditional silicone nasal implant, which has a particle surface, vertical and horizontal grooves, and a special vertical board to support the nasal tip. A total of 114 consecutive clinical cases were retrospectively reviewed from September 2016 to November 2022, with a minimum of 36 months and an average 51 months of follow-up. All patients underwent augmentation rhinoplasty using this novel implant, with 97 (85.09%) patients using only the silicone and 17 (14.91%) the silicone implant with conchal cartilage. Surgical complications such as sliding down, redness, extrusion, deviation, translucency, capsular contracture, or infection were recorded. RESULTS: The median patient age was 28 (range, 18-55) years, with 109 female and 5 male patients. Among the 114 cases, 46 (40.35%) involved primary surgery and 68 (59.65%) involved revisional surgery. The overall complication rate was 4.39%, and 0.88% of the patients had slight redness, 0.88% had intermittent pain, and 2.63% had infections. No other complication was observed, and all complications occurred in revisional surgeries. A total of 109 patients (95.61%) showed satisfying results without any postoperative complication. None of the patients with primary surgery reported postoperative complications. CONCLUSIONS: The novel silicone nasal implant can effectively reduce the rate of postoperative complications. Therefore, augmentation rhinoplasty using this implant enables a more natural-looking outcome. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3: [Image: see text]