Is ultrasonic rhinoplasty better & is there less chances of developing a bony callus?

Hello,

The best choice for a rhinoplasty is the surgeon not the tools. Some advantages of ultrasonic tools are increased precision and visibility however there is actually more swelling with ultrasonic than traditional approaches. Bony callus can occur with either one. Rhinoplasty is a procedure of details and it is important to pick somebody that pays attention to details.

Some surgeons advocate the use of an ultrasonic device for performing osteotomies citing decreased downtime and swelling. We have not found a need to use an ultrasonic device after 25 years of performing rhinoplasty surgeries regularly. Thank you for this question! Sincerely, Dr Joseph

Hello and thank you for your question. I don’t find ultrasonic rhinopasty gives any advantage at all. There are, of course, some good surgeons who use it and some good surgeons who don’t use it. Here is some general advice when selecting a surgeon. I highly recommend that my patients focus much more on real longterm before and after photographs rather than 3D imaging.   I encounter so many patients in my practice who see me for revision rhinoplasty who previously had surgery elsewhere who feel like they were mislead into surgery by surgeons who relied heavily on 3D imaging without adequate real before and after pictures to back it up. Photoshop is easy but real surgery is very different.

I always recommend that you carefully evaluate your surgeon’s online before and after gallery on their website for both quality and quantity of results. Make sure that there are hundreds of real before and after pictures which demonstrate long-term follow up results. If your surgeon is posting mostly on table results without real long-term follow up results, that is usually a major red flag. If a surgeon is posting mostly just splint removal day videos without longterm follow-up pictures, that can also be a red flag. Long-term results are much more meaningful than on table results or 1 week post-op results. I recommend that you seek consultation with a qualified board-certified rhinoplasty surgeon who can evaluate you in person.

Best wishes and good luck.

Richard G. Reish, M.D.
Harvard-trained plastic surgeon