This Portuguese study looks at pre- and postoperative peak nasal inspiratory flow (PNIF) in 72 consecutive patients undergoing septorhinoplasty surgery. The aim was to demonstrate the functional value of spreader graft insertion, the aesthetic value having already been confirmed. In this study from Porto, 35 patients had spreader grafts inserted and 37 did not. Fifty-seven were primary and 15 were revision septorhinoplasty operations. A variety of open, closed, delivery and non-delivery techniques were used for the surgery and also 46 of the patients had a septoplasty at the same time. Preoperative and postoperative PNIF at six months was taken with a best of three approach. Despite the mixed variables in terms of surgery and the confounding factor of a septoplasty, a large amount of statistical analysis follows.
The outcome appears to be that all patients had a statistically significant improvement in airflow, as judged by PNIF, six months after their rhinoplasty surgery however there was no significant difference between those having spreader grafts inserted and not.
