RHINOPLASTY: The Use of Methyl Methacrylate Implants

Abstract

THE VARIOUS materials used in the reconstruction of depression defects of the nose are almost as numerous as the decades since rhinoplasties were first mentioned in writings, about the seventh century B.C. 1 Surgical implants have varied from paraffin to bone, and none has been found to be entirely satisfactory. In 1942 one of the authors (R. S. L.) while at the Mayo Clinic 2 noted the successful use of methyl methacrylate, an acrylic resin, in the reconstruction of a hip joint. This resin, commonly known as lucite, was then considered in the ear, nose and throat department of the United States Marine Hospital, Baltimore, for use as nasal implants. This type of surgical implantation was first done at this clinic in January 1943, and since then 20 patients have received surgical implants. Because it was feared that the tissue might react to methyl methacrylate as to a foreign body, the material