Would vomiting alter my rhinoplasty results?

While vomiting after surgery of any kind is a valid concern in many patients, it is not common in post-operative plastic surgery patients.  The act of vomiting itself would not alter your rhinoplasty result.  However spending time bent over to vomit could cause additional facial swelling.  Therefore, plastic surgeons and the anesthesiologists with whom they work with are very careful to avoid having their patients experience post surgical nausea.  Typically, medications to prevent nausea /vomiting are given via IV during surgery by the anesthesiologist and the plastic surgeon will prescribe these as well to be taken by mouth after surgery when going home on pain medication.  Thank you for your excellent question.

     Postoperative nausea and vomiting occurs in less than 5% of patients with the properly administered anesthesia and selected protocols.  There is little risk of damage to the nose.   Find a plastic surgeon with ELITE credentials who performs hundreds of rhinoplasties and rhinoplasty revisions each year.  Then look at the plastic surgeon's website before and after photo galleries to get a sense of who can deliver the results.

Kenneth Hughes, MD Los Angeles, CA

This is a common concern but a very uncommon problem. The surgery center will typically choose anesthesia medications carefully and provide anti-nausea drugs to prevent nausea for the first couple of days following surgery. Other things you can do would be to take your medication with food to minimize stomach upset. There are also several great nausea medications that can be used at home. It is rare for any of my patients to experience nausea following surgery but that has very much to do with the skill of the anesthesiologist to provide the right medications and being expeditious in the operating room to avoid unnecessary time under anesthesia. I hope this information is helpful.

Stephen Weber MD, FACS