Can my alarplasty stitches be removed by another surgeon?

If one has surgery overseas, although it is not ideal, it is possible to find a surgeon who could remove the sutures for you. Obviously you will have to pay a fee for that and any ongoing monitoring by the surgeon. It is always wise if you are having surgery elsewhere to spend a considerable amount of time following your surgery so your surgeon can monitor the healing process. He or she can take care of any complication that may arise. Often if there is a problem, if taking care of early yields a better result. If you are searching for a surgeon to take care of it, valuable time can be lost.

While alarplasty is a fairly straightforward procedure, your plan has a lot of risk for complications. The short answer is that yes, some else here in the US can take out your sutures, but it really is not advisable as your surgeon already alluded to. This often happens between an emergency room case and a plastic surgeon's office, but there is clear communication between the 2 parties involved as to exactly what surgical procedure was performed, how many sutures placed and why type of suture was used. If you do proceed with this plan, make sure that you already have someone in place to take out the sutures beforehand and that the foreign surgeon sends you with an operative report detailing all that was done. 

Alarplasty stitches are removed at 7 days in my practice. Please note removal of sutures is critical; too early and the incision can separate, too late and railroad tracking can occur.

Thank you for the question and you should not have difficulty finding a surgeon here to remove the sutures just as it would have been just as easy to have had the whole operation done here.Dr. Corbin

Dear 123tom321, You should have no problem finding a surgeon locally to remove your alar stitches. I would suggest that you speak with your surgeon and ask him when he wants the stitches removed so that you follow his post operative protocol. I remove my twist sutures anywhere from one to three days to  ensure that there is no visible incision and then the key suture at seven days. Best regards, Michael V. Elam, M.D.