Are the Splints Placed in the Inside of the Nose or the Outside?

     There are external and internal splints, and the application of these is based upon procedures performed and surgeon preference.

 

 

Kenneth Hughes, MD

Los Angeles, CA

If you had a rhinoplasty -- especially if the surgeon has to "break" the bones and reposition them, a splint will be placed on the outside of the nose to stabilize the new shape during the first week following rhinoplasty.  If you had a septoplasty, many surgeons will  put internal splints against both sides of the septum to influence the curvature of the septum during the initial healing and to prevent blood from collecting where the septum was worked on.  However, most facial plastic surgeons will use what's called a "quilting stitch" to close the space left following the septoplasty, thereby obviating the need for internal splints.