Complications following rhinotomy. Review of 148 patients.

For the period 1974 to 1988, 148 patients undergoing 162 rhinotomies at The Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, for a variety of benign and malignant neoplasms were reviewed with particular attention to postoperative complications. The effects of certain predisposing factors such as prior rhinotomy, lateral versus total rhinotomy, additional medial maxillectomy or craniofacial resection, and preoperative irradiation or nasal bone erosion are discussed. In addition, a surgical technique of rhinotomy with medial maxillectomy is presented that includes maneuvers designed to prevent these complications.