[Rhinoplasty--a mainly aesthetic or functional operation (author's transl)].

Reviewing personal indications for rhinoplasty and subjective estimation of the postoperative result in 202 patients (104 male and 98 female) it is asked, whether rhinoplasty has to be regarded as a mainly aesthetic or functional surgical procedure. The catamnestic study showed, that most patients preoperatively complained about impediment of nasal breathing as well as of deformities of the external nose. In men we found about the same frequency of predominantly functional and aesthetic indications, respectively, whereas in women the aesthetic motivation distinctly prevailed. However, postoperative complaints of male and female patients mainly referred to the shape of the external nose. Many patients don't talk of those complaints before some time has passed: right after surgery 85% of 202 patients stated to be completely satisfied by the postoperative result, but 1/2 to 3 years later we only counted 67% (of 155 inquired cases) still expressing full satisfaction. In only a few cases postoperative dissatisfaction was likely to be caused by noticeable nasal deformities or (even less often) unimproved nasal obstruction. In many patients postoperative dissatisfaction appeared rather due to psychological disturbances than to aesthetic insufficiencies, this being demonstrated by two cases described. Faced with these observations one can call rhinoplasty neither a mainly aesthetic nor a mainly functional operation; rhinoplasty requires improvement and preservation of nasal function as well as a careful consideration of aesthetic principles.