Objective: To study the applications of bone grafts from the cranium or mandible in the repair of posttraumatic deformities of the nose.
Methods: From 1997 to 2002, a total of 44 patients, who presented with secondary nose deformity as well as facial fractures, were reconstructed by autogeneous outer table grafts of the calvarial or mandibular bone after facial skeleton reposition. In this series, 32 cases used the calvarial bone, 12 cases used the mandible bone, which was harvested through a coronal incision and an oral approach respectively.
Results: The surgical incisions healed primarily in all patients with minimal scar. The facial appearance was greatly improved. No implant infection, extrusion and shift were observed in the postoperative follow-up of 6 months to 2 years. There was not obvious bone resorption, nor donor site morbidity.
Conclusion: Autogeneous calvarial and mandibular bone was an ideal material of bone graft in reconstruction of severe posttraumatic deformities of the nose. Compared with other autogeneous and alloplastic materials, the outer table of the calvarial and mandibular bone produced less morbidity of the donor site, invisible scar, no rejection and less resorption.