Posted December 6, 2018 in Uncategorized

Last weekend I hosted a 12-hour symposium entitled “Mastering Endonasal Rhinoplasty in One Day,” facilitated by Quality Medical Publishing.  It was successful beyond my expectations — surgeons from 12 countries and many who joined us by live webinar.

Seven surgeons participated from Facial Plastic Surgery and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: Norman Pastorek (New York City), Holger Gassner (Regensburg, Germany), Matthew Bridges (Midlothian [suburb of Richmond], Virginia), David Fisher (Toronto, Canada), Ariel Rad (Washington, DC) and Mark Albert (New York City).  This faculty was a mixture of experienced, senior surgeons and younger surgeons who have adopted endonasal rhinoplasty for aesthetic and reconstructive purposes over the last 3 to 4 years and are producing superb results –– belying the concept that closed surgery is more difficult or impossible to learn except for the few gifted.

It is just the opposite: Because the endonasal approach is so much more limited and less destructive, fewer grafts are required, recovery is quicker, the airway is protected, and the likelihood of producing new deformities is much lower.  Those advantages have strengthened the senior faculty’s practices and allowed the younger faculty’s practices to grow rapidly and successfully.

Despite the length of the day, attendance was excellent and you could hear a pin drop through the sessions.  The next day Facebook was buzzing with excitement, some calling it the beginning of a paradigm shift.  If that is true, I am happy because of the benefits that closed rhinoplasty has for patients in terms of safety, function, and predictability.

This is only the first of future successful symposia already planned for next year.  So exciting!