Implants for reconstructive surgery of the nose and ears.

Implants shorten reconstruction, reduce trauma for the patients, are, in principle, of unlimited availability and can be given definable qualities that outnumber those of biological transplants. Lots of sometimes exotic materials have already been suggested for facial surgery and most of them have turned out to be unsuitable in the short or long term, because they did not satisfactorily fulfil the requirements of a "perfect implant". However, transplants obviously cannot be regarded as ideal either because they often involve the necessity of a second intervention for removal, they are only available to a limited extent and some are at risk of postoperative deflection, shrinkage and absorption. This article is concerned with current knowledge about implant materials for rhinoplasty and ear reconstruction. Autogenous transplants will also be briefly discussed. The repetition of known facts should be largely avoided. In relation to this reference will be made to earlier papers [1].