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The cocaine user: the potential problem patient for rhinoplasty.
Slavin SA; Goldwyn RM
Plast Reconstr Surg, 86: 3, 1990 Sep, 436-42
Cocaine users are at special risk during a rhinoplasty. Because the nose is used for cocaine administration the lining is exposed to an intense vasoconstrictive action and the irritating effects of additives. The authors recommend that before surgery the surgeon take a thorough history and looks in the nose for signs of cocaine use. In their series only half of the cocaine users were identified before surgery. Complications associated with the cocaine use included localized septal collapse, delayed healing, and inadequate correction of septal deflection. They believe that submucous resection and septoplasty should not be done in patients with a known history of intranasal cocaine use. They feel that it may be safe in some of these patients but in others it may be hazardous.
return to rhinoplasty in cocaine users
