Video 4.15: Low-Energy Electrocautery to Tighten Thick Ala and Footplate Soft Tissue Without Excision

What this video shows

Video 4.15 demonstrates one of the two main benefits of electrocautery described in the book. Besides making submembranous dissection easier, because the perichondrial and periosteal membranes cut easily while cartilage and bone resist, electrocautery at a very low energy level can tighten the subcutaneous tissue of a thick ala or footplate. In this way small soft tissue asymmetries and the tissue excess of the ala and sill area, which bulges and disturbs both the nostril image and function, can be corrected without excisions or grafts.

The video shows the setting, the target tissue and the immediate tightening effect.

Key points

• Very low energy monopolar electrocautery applied to subcutaneous tissue.

• Corrects thick ala, footplate excess and small asymmetries.

• No excision and no graft required.

In the book: Chapter 4 – Nasal Tip Surgery, section 4.4 Use of Electrocautery in Rhinoplasty, pp. 108–109 of Rhinoplasty in Practice: An Algorithmic Approach to Modern Surgical Techniques (CRC Press, 2021). About the book and all companion videos.

Surgeon: Prof. Dr. Suleyman Tas, plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgeon, Istanbul. This video is part of the surgeon-training material of the book; patients considering rhinoplasty in Istanbul can use it to understand the techniques used at Prof. Dr. Suleyman Tas Clinic.