Dorsal hump removal giving a wider tip?

  Removal of a dorsal hump with infracture to close the open roof may make the tip appear larger, but the tip itself can remain unchanged.Kenneth Hughes, MDLos Angeles, CA

Removing a dorsal hump makes the nasal bridge wider on the frontal view.  Osteotomies of the nasal bones are routinely performed after dorsal hump removal to maintain or narrow the bridge on the frontal view. Removing a dorsal hump does not typically affect the width of the tip.  However, if the bridge is lowered too much, the tip could settle back towards the face (deproject), and this may cause widening on the frontal view.

A dorsal hump removal done by itself does not widen the nasal tip. In some instances when the dorsal hump reduction has been performed, spreader grafts must be placed in the upper lateral cartilages( To prevent a collapse) which can give the illusion of a slightly wider nasal tip.

I am not sure what images you have been looking at but removing the dorsum should have a minimal effect on that particular view. The exception is if the surgeon has not brought the side edges together after dorsal removal and/or has not addressed the tip cartilages to "match" the dorsal contours. Especially if a rather large dorsum is removed, it is imperative that the tip be addressed to match and the dorsal curve be recontoured to be round, smooth and natural looking.

If only a hump is removed, this will not change the tip. If the bridge was very wide before the hump removal the tip may look relatively wider without actually modifying the tip.