Comparison of osteotomy methods used in rhinoplasty operation

SUMMARY Comparison of Osteotomy Methods used in Rhinoplasty Operation This work provides a comparison of the osteotomy with a conventional lateral osteotome and piezo-electric instruments and their impact on postoperative morbidity within patients who underwent rhinoplasty operation. A total of 72 patients, aged between 18 and 40, were included in the study. The osteotomy was performed to 49 and 23 patients via the conventional method and piezo-electric instruments, respectively. Using the Yücel modification of Kara and Gokalan edema ecchymosis classification method, the eighth postoperative hour, 24th hour, the third day, and tenth-day ecchymosis - edema - pain values were recorded by an ENT specialist, who is unaware of the osteotomy method (single-blind). Pain scores were also recorded using the verbal descriptive pain scale, one of the universal pain assessment tools in the literature. In the first stage, the distribution type of numerical data was determined using Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro-Wilk tests, and osteotomy groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. A value of P <0.05 was considered statistically significant. The statistical analysis shows the superiority of the use of piezo-electric instruments over conventional methods. Despite being negligible, edema scores were found to be low in the piezosurgery group. Ecchymosis values were also observed to be low in the piezosurgery group at all times. The first-day ecchymosis values were another metric notably lower within the piezo group. The eighth hour and third-day ecchymosis scores were also remarkably lower, despite being statistically insignificant. In terms of the pain scores of the patients who were given appropriate postoperative analgesia, on the other hand, no significant difference was observed between the two groups.