Rhinoplasty can be performed through either an open or closed rhinoplasty. During rhinoplasty surgery a hump can be removed, the sidewalls narrowed, and tip adjusted through either open or closed technique. All grafting in the nose addressing the tip, alar rim grafts, and spreader grafts can also be preformed either through open or closed technique.
The decision whether to perform an open or closed rhinoplasty depends on the surgeon’s preference. Dr. Portuese prefers the closed technique.
Open Rhinoplasty:
- Incisions are located on the outside of the columella in addition to some incisions inside of the nose.
- The open technique takes longer to perform.
- Longer healing time. There is more residual swelling in the tip that takes longer to subside.
- Patients may experience healing and scarring issues across the columella and scarring from the outside incision may be noticeable, even after it is fully healed.
Closed Rhinoplasty:
- Incisions are located completely inside of the nose.
- There is no visible scarring.
- The nose tends to heal much faster after surgery.
- The healing is more predictable.
- A closed rhinoplasty doesn’t take as long to perform.
Dr. Portuese has performed thousands of rhinoplasty surgeries. In his experience, the patient prefers rhinoplasty using the closed technique.
