What is the rate of rhinoplasty revisions needed?

The number quoted in our literature is more like 10%, meaning one in 10 patients ends up getting a revision rhinoplasty. This number is obviously very surgeon dependent. I am wondering why you brought up the American Board of Plastic Surgery? I do a fair number of revision rhinoplasties in my state and they all come from doctors who are board certified Plastic Surgeons. That is because most of the rhinoplasties around here are done by Plastic Surgeons.
I happen to be board certified by the American Board of Facial Plastic Surgery and the American Board of Otolaryngology. I bring this up not to start a battle but to illustrate that board certification is no guarantee of quality. Training exposure during residency and fellowship varies with each institution and program. I know great rhinoplasty surgeons who are board certified by the Board of Plastic Surgery, and great surgeons certified by the Board of Facial Plastic Surgery. I also know surgeons who should not be doing rhinoplasties. Even the best surgeon can have less than ideal results at times.
The healing process after a rhinoplasty can be unpredictable even when everything was done correctly during the surgery. This is a tricky area for the patient seeking a rhinoplasty, ask questions, check reputations, look at before and after photos.... good luck and I hope this helps.

Revision rhinoplasty rates are documented at around 10 % give or take. There are multiple reasons for revision surgery. Many patients undergo revision surgery because of breathing difficulty post operatively or for aesthetic reasons such as inadequate dorsal hump resection or over resection of the dorsum causing an inverted V deformity. Rhinoplasty is a surgery of millimeters and therefore the room for error is zero. I agree that it is important to see only board certified plastic surgeons or facial plastic surgeons in order to have proper treatment. However even in the most experienced and qualified hands there are patients who will need revision.

The physicians who publish these rates are actually the doctors who are doing the most surgery, which is why they are publishing on rhinoplasty. Most are usually minor changes and not patients who need entire re-dos.
For a quality result you should trust a physician boarded by the American Board of Facial Plastic Surgery or the American Board of Plastic Surgery. However many physicians who are board certified don't do many rhinoplasties. So, board certification isn't the only issue, you should ask what percentage of your doctor's practice is devoted to rhinoplasty and how many they do per year.

This has often been quoted as a revision rate procedure and is indicative of patient expectations, surgeon's surgical expertise, inability to change certain anatomic features, healing tendencies,etc. With a board certified surgeon, you are certain to recieve surgery with an individual who's training is supervised and credentialed.

Interesting topic and question. The rate of revision rhinoplasty nationwide is a difficult number to accurately quantify. This is due to the fact that patients historically tend to see physicians of different training backgrounds and abilities making it difficult to obtain accurate statistics. For instance, I'm boarded by the American Board of Otolaryngology (ENT) as well as the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and have practiced nothing but facial plastic surgery since 1988. My revision rate hovers somewhere between 3-5% but that includes all patients that I take back to the operating room. The vast majority have a minor revision done under local anesthesia that typically takes less than 45 minutes with the most common "revision" being shaving down the rhinion. The rhinion is the area of the nose where the cartilage and bone merge and is the growth center of the nose; I tell my patients that at times they will grow cartilage and/or bone in this area 3-6 months post op and we'll need to address it. The other less common revision is in patients that retain supratip edema (the area immediately above the tip) and in these patients if steroids and taping do not resolve the problem aggressive scar tissue removal will usually address the problem. This is typically done after a year to allow as much healing to take place as possible. This problem is rare and tends to be more common in patients with thick sebaceous skin who have had an external approach.

To lessen your chances of needing a major revision seek a surgeon board certified by the American Board of Facial Plastic Surgery or the American Board of Plastic Surgery who has years of experience performing rhinoplasty and can show you many of their photos (which you find attractive). See 2-3 surgeons and pick the one you feel most comfortable with. Even surgeons with these boards may not do much rhinoplasty so ask how often they perform the procedure, what is their particular specialty and how long have they specialized. Experience is a great teacher. Finally be wary of physicians that advertize excessively as the best surgeons are usually busy due to word of mouth and reputation and find they need to market themselves modestly.