What is an ultrasonic rhinoplasty with piezoelectricity?
What does it mean to have a rhinoplasty using the piezoelectric ultrasonic device?
Most rhinoplasty techniques include some type of nasal bone modification in order to achieve a slimmer nasal profile with better alignment of the bony architecture that shapes the upper part of the nose. Traditionally, sculpting the nasal bones in rhinoplasty includes using a bone chisel and hand-held hammer to mobilize or shape the nasal bones into a more favorable alignment. A hammer and bone chisel technique can result in more injury to the surrounding tissues that do not need any modification. This can result in significantly more bleeding, swelling, and discomfort for the patient recovering after rhinoplasty.
Ultrasonic piezoelectric rhinoplasty is the technical term for performing a rhinoplasty using ultrasound energy. This is a form of rhinoplasty which avoids a hammer and chisel to reshape/sculpt the nasal bones and surrounding bone pyramid. The piezoelectric device uses ultrasonic energy to carefully transmit energy to the bones that are to be sculpted and/or mobilized; the piezoelectric device will not cut or reshape cartilage since it will only target the much more dense bony structures. The ultrasonic device provides more precision and reduces the chance of any inadvertent adjacent soft tissue injury, which can occur more frequently using the traditional chisel/hammer combination. Virginia Plastic Surgery is one of the first practices in Virginia to adopt the ultrasonic rhinoplasty technique utilizing the piezoelectric device for bone cutting.
What is the advantage of an ultrasonic rhinoplasty using the piezoelectric device for patients?
The original, traditional rhinoplasty maneuvers that utilize a hand-held hammer and bone chisel can result in undesirable inadvertent outcomes, particularly in inexperienced hands including more bleeding, bruising, swelling, and potentially inadvertent fracturing of the nasal bones in an undesirable pattern. The more precise, gentle technique of sculpting/moving the nasal bones with the piezoelectric device significantly minimizes patient bruising, bleeding, and swelling. This is because the ultrasonic device delivers the minimal amount of energy required to appropriately sculpt the nasal bones, which is not possible even with the finest bone chisel. In addition, the use of the ultrasonic piezoelectric device permits the emerging trend of preservation rhinoplasty. Preservation rhinoplasty is a unique rhinoplasty philosophy of reshaping/sculpting rather than the more aggressive reductive traditional techniques of bone fractures with a hammer and chisel. The more precise and lower energy delivered to the nasal framework permits a more rapid recovery with significantly less pain, bruising, and swelling for the patient.