|
The Use
of Expanded Polytetrafluoroethylene (Gore-Tex) |
|
| Objective: | To
determine the safety and efficacy of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (Gore-Tex
soft-tissue patch, W. L. Gore & Assoc. Inc., Flagstaff, Ariz.) as an implant
in rhinoplasty. |
| Design: | A retrospective study of 137 patients who underwent rhinoplasty including augmentation with Gore-Tex over a 6-year period. A review of the medical literature concerning the use of Gore-Tex as an implant in the head and neck was also conducted. |
| Setting: | Two
major academic medical centers and two private office surgical centers.
|
| Participants: | One
hundred thirty-seven consecutive patients who received Gore-Tex implants
in the course of rhinoplasty. |
| Outcome Measure: | Patient satisfaction at 3 months after surgery. Intervention: Sixty-nine patients presented for primary rhinoplasty; the remaining 68 presented for revision surgery. All received Fore-Tex nasal implants to augment the nasal dorsum and /or base. The grafts ranged from 1 to 6 mm in thickness. Follow-up ranged from 6 to 80 months, with an average of 25 months. |
| Outcome Measures: | Clinically noted complications and patient satisfaction. |
| Results: | Three
(2.2%) of 137 grafts became infected and were removed. One graft was removed
5 months post-operatively because of excessive augmentation. None of the
patients who underwent implant removal required subsequent augmentation.
All 137 patients are pleased with their results. |
| Conclusions: | Gore-Tex
is a safe and effective implant material to use in primary and revision
rhinoplasty when augmentation is needed and autogenous material is not available
or desirable. |
|
(Arch
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1995;121:1131-1136)
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