Jaberoo Marie-Claire, De Zoysa Neil, Mehta Nishchay, Prasad Vyas, Heywood Rebecca, Saleh Hesham, Marais Joe
Corresponding author: Miss Marie-Claire Jaberoo, ENT Department, Level 5 Christchurch Hospital, 2 Riccarton Ave., Christchurch 4710, New Zealand. Email:
Ear Nose Throat J. 2016 Feb;95(2):E18-21. doi: 10.1177/014556131609500206.
Nasal tip numbness is a recognized postoperative complication after septorhinoplasty and rhinoplasty. We performed a twin-center retrospective study to determine the incidence of short- and long-term (>6 mo) nasal tip numbness after these procedures, and we studied several variables that might have been associated with this complication. Our study group was made up of 65 patients-31 males and 34 females, aged 15 to 67 years (mean: 30.5). Septorhinoplasty had been performed in 52 patients and rhinoplasty in 13; all surgeries were performed by two different surgeons at two different centers. There were 50 closed (endonasal) surgeries and 15 open surgeries. Follow-up phone calls made 6 to 37 months postoperatively revealed that 17 patients had experienced postoperative nasal tip numbness (26.2%); there were 10 cases of short-term numbness (15.4%) and 7 cases of long-term numbness (10.8%). Numbness resolved within 2 weeks in 8 of the 10 short-term patients. Of the 7 cases of long-term numbness, 6 patients reported severe numbness beyond 8 months, and 1 had mild numbness for at least a year. We found no association between the incidence of numbness and the type of surgery, the particular surgeon, or the particular center where the surgery had been performed. We did find that there was an association between long-term numbness and the open procedure, but it was not statistically significant. We discuss the possible mechanisms that might cause numbness in cases when the external nasal nerve is not cut. We believe it is important to include a discussion of the risk of nasal tip numbness during preoperative consultations and when seeking informed consent.
鼻尖麻木是鼻中隔成形术和鼻整形术后公认的一种并发症。我们进行了一项双中心回顾性研究，以确定这些手术后短期和长期（>6个月）鼻尖麻木的发生率，并研究了一些可能与该并发症相关的变量。我们的研究组由65例患者组成，其中男性31例，女性34例，年龄在15至67岁之间（平均30.5岁）。52例患者接受了鼻中隔成形术，13例接受了鼻整形术；所有手术均由两位不同的外科医生在两个不同的中心进行。有50例闭合式（鼻内）手术和15例开放式手术。术后6至37个月进行的随访电话显示，17例患者出现了术后鼻尖麻木（26.2%）；有10例短期麻木（15.4%）和7例长期麻木（10.8%）。10例短期患者中有8例在2周内麻木症状消失。在7例长期麻木患者中，6例报告在8个月后仍有严重麻木，1例至少有一年的轻度麻木。我们发现麻木发生率与手术类型、具体外科医生或手术所在的具体中心之间没有关联。我们确实发现长期麻木与开放式手术之间存在关联，但无统计学意义。我们讨论了在未切断鼻外神经的情况下可能导致麻木的潜在机制。我们认为在术前咨询和寻求知情同意时，讨论鼻尖麻木的风险很重要。
