Did my Doctor Forgot Some Stitches After Septoplasty?

I cannot comment on another surgeon's techniques, but in my septoplasty and rhinoplasty procedures, I use some dissolvable sutures that are very fine and will fall out on their own. I do not try to remove every suture that is present as these will all fall out within two weeks. It is also possible for deeper, more permanent sutures to extrude or "spit" through the skin or through an incision. In most cases, even when something like this happens, it does not cause any problems.
Be sure to discuss any post-procedural concerns with your surgeon.
All the best,

It’s not unusual for patients to encounter suture remnants
inside their nose following septoplasty.These are typically absorbable sutures which are used to close the intranasal
incision.Depending upon the type of
suture used, they have usually dissolved within two to four weeks following
surgery.Ocassionally,
these sutures can persist, which can result in crusting and scabbing.After approximately two weeks, removal of
these sutures should not have structural consequences.Removal should be performed by trained
medical personnel to avoid injury to adjacent structures.Nasal rinses with hydrogen peroxide can facilitate
removal of these suture remnants.

Sutures seen on the inside of the nose are typically absorbable.  Your body will absorb these sutures over a few weeks.  Everyone's body absorbs these sutures at a different rate and if they are present at one month or longer they can be readily removed in the office.  

The stitches used to close incisions inside the nose for septoplasty and rhinoplasty surgeries are usually dissolvable. These stitches are usually light brown or whitish in color and can take a few weeks to dissolve and fall out. Don't be alarmed if you notice them inside your nose after surgery. If a stitch is bothering you and has not yet dissolved, check with your surgeon about having it trimmed or removed. 

The clear sutures after septoplasty often are the absorbable type that will dissolve with time.  Sometimes these absorbable sutures come out on their own before they dissolve.  No worries. 

It is likely you are seeing the residual material from the absorbable sutures that were placed during your septoplasty procedure. It does take several weeks for these sutures to eventually dissolve and go away completely. Saline sprays (essentially medicinal salt water)  in the nose does help to keep things moisturized and promotes faster absorption of the suture material. 

Undoubtedly these are absorbable sutures. They are there for a purpose and if you remove them or play with them, you run the risk of damaging the result. Your nose is in a weaked state after surgery and remains so for many months. Any movement has the potential to cause a shifting of the tissues and increase the chance of failure. You can clean your nose, in fact this is encouraged, but without causing any movement.

Most surgeons use dissolvable sutures (stitches) inside the nose to close the incisions from a septoplasty or rhinoplasty. These are usually a clear/brown color but can be off-white. They can persist for several weeks until they dissolve, and sometimes a fragment of one will come out on its own.. If you have any questions as what remains in your nose, you should return to see your surgeon.

Thank you for your question.Depending on the technique used for the nasal surgery, there can be removable stitches on the skin of the nose, typically on the columella - the part that joins the tip of the nose to the upper lip.It is also commonplace to use dissolvable/absorbable sutures in the inside of the nose - these can be brown, tan, white, clear, or purple, depending on the surgeon.I would recommend that you consult the operating surgeon to be sure - while it's unlikely that any sutures were unintentionally left behind, we're all human and so it's possible.  

 In our practice we use only dissolvable stitches inside the nose, so there is nothing to remove after the procedure. We also do not place any packing on the inside of the nose. Expect at least a week of swelling on the inside of the nose and not being able to breathe out of it due to the swelling.