Background & Objectives: The lateral nasal osteotomy is an integral part of cosmetic surgery (rhinoplasty). A reproducible and predictable technique with the least complication is a significant contributor to operation success. Regarding the different techniques and instrumentation for osteotomy, this study was carried out with the aim of comparison of ecchymosis severity due to lateral osteotomy in internal continuous and external perforated techniques in Tehran from 2004 to 2005.
Materials & Methods: This clinical trial was conducted on 30 patients ( 15 males and 15 females ). The entire patients had the same situation pre and post operation. In each patient both internal and external osteotomy were performed, and ecchymosis severity due to operation was measured using a ruler on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 7th day following the operation. The data were analysed through SPSS (Smirnov & kolmograph, repeated measure and Wilks tests).
Results: The study results indicated that the ecchymosis severity was far lower in external method than internal method (P=0.01)and it was higher in lower eyelids than in upper eyelids (P=0.01) . Ecchymosis severity was higher on the 3rd day than the other days and it gradually declined from 3rd to 7th days. Age had no significant association with ecchymosis severity while its rate was higher in men than in women (P=0.01).
Conclusions: External osteotomy causes less ecchymosis severity compared to internal technique and has other advantages confirmed by other researchers. Thus, it can be introduced as a preferable educational technique.