Augmentation of the nasal dorsum with autogenous costal cartilage using the "edge-on" technique.

Carved costal cartilage autografts are commonly used for nasal augmentation in saddle nose deformities. One major disadvantage of these carved grafts is postoperative warping. To prevent warping of costal cartilages, we used the "edge-on" technique. The inferior border of the cartilage is rotated 90 degrees to become the convex dorsum. No cartilage is trimmed or carved, and hence the intrinsic stress forces within the graft are not disturbed. The results in 21 patients are documented with long-term follow up (mean, 4 years) and showed no evidence of warping. Other complications, advantages, and disadvantages of the technique are discussed.