Adapting Quality Assurance Principles to Open Structure Rhinoplasty

Abstract

Objective: Evaluate the methodology and outcome of open structure rhinoplasty after adapting Quality Assurance (QA) principles during planning, surgery and follow-up. Quality assurance broadly means conforming to standards, meeting customer expectations and fulfilling consumer satisfaction. Method: Retrospective study was conducted on 82 patients who underwent open structure rhinoplasty. Patient expectation was measured by comparing preoperative virtual image with the postoperative real one. Patient satisfaction was measured by validated procedure-specific Quality-of-Life questionnaires. Conforming to standards was evaluated through assessing aesthetic measures and functional parameters. Results: A total of 91.4% of the surgeries met patient expectations while 93.3% fulfilled patient satisfaction. A total of 85.4% of cases conformed to aesthetic nasal measures while 92.7% to functional clinical parameters. Conclusion: Adapting QA principles to rhinoplasty allowed standardization of methodology and assessment of results in precise and accurate manner. It enhances education through defining norms, analyzing variants, addressing deviations, and better planning through proper selection of techniques and customized sequencing of steps. It allowed achievement of preoperative goals effectively and efficiently.