What is the rate of extrusion or infection with permanent sutures (nylon) in rhinoplasty?

Great question. Most Surgeon still use permanent sutures in the nose to stabilise cartilage grafts etc. They can extrude rarely, but no one knows the true extrusion rate. There are just too many variables, size of suture, area of placement in the nose, thin skin, infection etc. Many high volume rhinoplasty surgeons I know have had one or two cases of permanent suture extrusion. It is for this reason I have switched to PDS sutures for the vast majority of my nasal sutures. PDS is a slow dissolving suture, and in the nose it hangs around long enough till the new scar formation stabilises the nose/nose reconstruction. As they dissolve over 6 months I have not had a problem of them extruding or cause a stitch abscess in the nose. I hope this helps

Hello and thank you for your question.  The
best advice you can receive is from an in-person consultation.  Nylon sutures are commonly used for cartilage suturing in rhinoplasty.  It would be exceedingly rare to have extrusion or infection.   Make sure you specifically look
at before and after pictures of real patients who have had this surgery
performed by your surgeon and evaluate their results.   The most
important aspect is to find a surgeon you are comfortable with. I recommend
that you seek consultation with a qualified board-certified plastic surgeon who
can evaluate you in person.
Best wishes and good luck.
Richard G. Reish, M.D.  FACS
Harvard-trained plastic surgeon

Hello,Permanent sutures are a crucial component of open structural rhinoplasty. They have been used for decades without any higher infection rate than outdated reductive rhinoplasties where no sutures are used. Best of luck!

I have not seen a fine nylon suture extrude in a modern well performed rhinoplasty. Infection is theoretically possible but exceedingly rare. Happy Holidays

 In our practice, we no longer use nylon sutures in the nasal tip because we had several patients  who had stitch abscesses from them. We now use the type of  sutures that take approximately six months to dissolve.

The rate of extrusion is very low.  When permanent sutures are place near an incision, extrusion happens.  With rhinoplasties, the permanent sutures are covered by the nasal skin.  I have only seen a couple in my 27 year career and these were from poorly done surgeries.  Best wishes.