I have a large hump on my nose that I would like removed. I know that the upper part of the nose is bone, and the lower is cartilage. What happens if, during rhinoplasty, you accidentally took too much of the bone, or it didn’t break in just the right spot and a bigger piece came off? If this happened, what would you replace the bone with?

Some rhinoplasty surgeons use a chisel (called an osteotome) to remove the bony dorsal hump. I prefer the use of a very fine rasp to remove the bony dorsal hump, thus significantly minimizing the risk of taking too much bone off the top. If too much bone is removed, potential options for repair include cartilage graft, temporalis fascia graft, or combination of the two.

Posted by Rami K. Batniji, M.D., F.A.C.S.