Aesthetic rhinoplasty in early adolescence.

Aesthetic rhinoplasty was performed on a small number of select youngsters who were less than 14 years old. During the early years of the clinical study only patients with a significant anatomic deformity and a very strong desire for surgery to correct it were accepted for surgery. There was close postoperative followup. In no case was recurrence of pathology noted and no additional surgery was performed. The psychological benefit that the surgery afforded during puberty, a very critical time in emotional development, was found to be significant.