Advantages of Ear Cartilage for Asian Bridge Job?

What are the advantages of using ear cartilage to build a bridge during an Asian rhinoplasty procedure?

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Advantages of ear cartilage for augmenting the nose bridge.

Ear cartilage has a low donor site related problems, low infection and resorption rates, and easily carved. However, there is often an insufficient amount of ear cartilage when you need to significantly augment the nose bridge.

Advantages/Disadvantages of Ear Cartilage for Rhinoplasty

From my perspective ear cartilage is contra-indicated in bridge work either with Asians or any other ethnic group. Ear cartilage in the bridge area either shrinks and becomes unsightly or dissappears altogether. You need a homograft of either skull bone or rib bone.

Using rib cartilage to build the bridge with Asian rhinoplasty

Ear cartilage has a few benefits compared with other sources of material. Compared with silicone implants your own cartilage, in general, has a better safety and longevity profile. Compared with rib cartilage, the incision for ear cartilage is easily hidden behind the ear. One downside with using ear versus rib cartilage is that in some patients there isn't enough ear cartilage available for fully augmenting the bridge. Ear cartilage is also softer than septal or rib cartilage so may... more

Advantages of Ear Cartilage for Asian Bridge Job?

I have performed Rhinoplasty, including Asian Rhinoplasty, for well over 20 years and IMHO...there are no advantages, only disadvantages in using ear cartilage to build up the nasal bridge. Ear cartilage is curved and as such must be folded to create a straighter graft shape for placement on the nasl bridge. This is never, IMO, as straight as a straight silastic dorsal graft which is what I prefer for building up the nasal bridge. Ear cartilage, IMHO, dissolves... more

Nasal dorsum graft

I prefer to use rib cartilage for dorsal augmentation. Ear cartilage is not sufficient for most cases and it is a softer cartilage.

Steven Wallach, MD

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Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Different ways of using your own cartilage for making a nasal bridge

Silicone nasal implants for the nasal bridge have been used extensively particularly in Asia. I've used them for many years and they usually work very well. Only rarely do they get infected as long as they're not used to augment the tip as well. They are often a bit mobile; can be asymmetric; and sometimes the edges can be felt. Cartilage from the ear is a good alternative. If I use ear cartilage I prefer to dice it (cut it into very small pieces that I then inject... more

Cartilage vs silicone implant

Augmentation of the radix (the bridge of the nose) can be performed safely with cartilage or a silicone implant. The advantage of using cartilage is that it is your own tissue, and therefore less likely to become infected, or extrude (erode through the skin or into the nose). The disadvantages of using cartilage are that it can warp or resorb. When using cartilage your surgeon can increase the chances for success by use of a symmetric design and letting the cartilage... more