The Association between the Complexity of Nasal Deformities and Surgical Time in Rhinoplasty Patients: A Retrospective Single-Center Study

Previous reports showed that prolonged operative time increases the risk of surgical site infection rates, prolonged hospital stays, and potentially higher rates of revision surgeries. In the context of rhinoplasty, the type of nasal deformity may complicate the surgical procedure and increase the operative time. We aimed to investigate the association between the type of nasal deformity and operative time in rhinoplasty patients. This retrospective chart review studies 349 patients who underwent primary and secondary rhinoplasty procedures due to various nasal deformities in King Saud University-Medical City. The primary outcome of the present study was the association between operative time, defined as the time from the initial incision to the completion of skin closure, and the type of nasal deformity. The association between the type of deformity and operative time was assessed using one-way ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc analysis. There was a statistically significant association between the type of nasal deformity and operative time (p < 0.001). Patients with dorsal, alar base, and tip deformities had significantly longer operative times than patients with isolated dorsal deformities (208.01 ± 57.73 min) (p < 0.001). The analysis also showed that the presence of crooked nose deformities (p < 0.001), an inverted V deformity (p = 0.01), internal nasal valve collapse (p = 0.025), axis deviation (p = 0.003), over-projection, and under-projection significantly increased surgical duration. The complexity of nasal deformities significantly impacts the operative time in rhinoplasty surgeries; more complex deformities that require extensive surgical procedures are associated with a longer operative time. Further research is warranted to corroborate these findings and investigate other potential influencing factors.