Rhinoplasty with Dr Toncic - Caution - Croatia

Having had rhinoplasty with Dr Toncic has been one of the most upsetting times as I was very unhappy with the outcome, poor communication, lack of understanding and professionalism.

I feel that the communication was poor particularly post surgery, they did not listen to my concerns when I reported that there was a dent in my nose or a least it was far more evident after they performed surgery.

. I traveled from the UK and there was no follow up from them after my surgery. I had to inundate them with emails to ask what had happened to my nose. I was told to wait for the swelling to go down, I waited months, it is now 6 months post operation and I promise you there is a huge dent on the right side of my nose, no amount of makeup can cover this up.

Before I left the clinic I verbally stated that there was a dent on the side of my nose. Dr Toncic felt this was swelling, he later informed me that he did not understand that meaning of the word "dent". If they advertise themselves as a clinic who can communicate english, I feel they have failed as something I clearly communicated was not understood.

I had a consistent message from them saying that they felt it looked better, I pleaded with them to listen to my concerns, I felt it looked worse after they had operated on it. I wanted them to relate to what I was saying, trying to have communication with them post operation was a mission and I felt ignored.

There was a problem with payment when I got there, apparently it said in fine print that there was an extra charge when paying with a card, and cash would have been the better payment option. The admin lady had been off ill and nobody called me to tell me about payment options. On the day of surgery my phone would not work abroad and I had to call my partner to help me sort of the payment as I had intended to pay on card. This was the first moment I felt unhappy, as I traveled so far this should have been verbally communicated with me or at least on email.

I had to contact them 3 times for my post op notes which is something most clinic should and would provide anyway. I don't know how may others have had poor experiences of their treatments, but I urge you to take my feedback into account if you are thinking of having surgery abroad. Do your homework, i thought I had chosen the right clinic, I have been a very expensive, stressful mistake. I am now looking at having revision surgery to correct the work performed by this clinic.

It is now 19 months on since I had my revision rhino surgery with Dr Julian Rowe Jones and I am very happy with the outcome. Following the revision surgery Dr Rowe Jones informed me that my case was an extremely complex case due to what he found once he opened up the nose.

Dr Toncic in Croatia did a closed surgery in July 2013 and this was DISASTEROUS, this created noticeable indentation in the right side of my nose. Dr Toncic also attempted to lift the droopy nose with their so called expert technique of using a skin graft taken from the cartilage behind MY EAR!!!! Dr Rowe Jones later QUERIED their clinical reasoning for this, if Dr Toncic wanted to raise the tip of the droopy nose using a graft, WHY WAS THIS CARTILAGE TAKEN FROM THE EAR!! Prior to surgery Dr Toncic informed me that there was not enough cartilage in my nose for the graft therefore he had to take cartilage from behind the ear to use for the graft which would be placed in the septum to lift the nose. Dr Rowe Jones later confirmed that there WAS in fact plenty of cartilage in the nose and he had to use this to build up the right side of my nose as Dr Toncic had removed too much cartilage on this side.

Had I have gone to Dr Rowe Jones in the first place I would have had an even nicer nose. Dr Rowe Jones did a brilliant job given the circumstances in that Dr TONCIC BUTCHERED MY NOSE! For anyone else reading this, think carefully about having cheaper rhinoplasty abroad, especially with Dr Toncic. Dr Toncic's mistake cost me thousands of pounds to correct and I had depression and anxiety a long time after this. This period should have been the most exciting time in my life leading up to my wedding instead it was a very dark time and I feel angry that Dr Toncic has taken my money and hasn't apologised or even acknowledged his errors.

Below is example of multiple emails sent to Dr Toncic after the surgery, aftercare was non existent as I received no written or verbal account of what actually happened during my surgery even though I made attempts to contact them.

Dear Dr Toncic,

I have seen 2 consultant surgeons in the UK Mr. Basim Matti & Mr. Julian Rowe Jones, both surgeons have concluded that there is evident indentation in the right side of my nose, this and this was NOT evident prior to surgery with you.

I require precise details of exactly what was done during my operation. Specify exactly where cartilage was taken and inserted, where cartilage was removed, how much cartilage was removed? How was the graft shaped? Why was septum not taken as cartilage? I need all this information as a matter of urgency.

It is the patients right to have access to the medical notes, these notes are required to proceed with revision rhinoplasty.

When is the soonest I can get this detailed information by?

I requested Dr Rowe Jones to write a post surgery report as I wanted to show others how Dr Toncic's surgery was extremely unsuccessful and his surgery techniques were poor. I'm strongly advising you to steer clear of this rhinoplasty practice in Zagreb.