The first task in applying
the dressing is to
place tape tightly against the nose. The skin had been elevated from the
nose during surgery so that we could see and alter the bones and cartilages, and
we tape the skin tightly back down to help the skin adhere to the new framework. The tape also keeps
fluid from collecting in a pool between the skin and the underlying
cartilages. The body might replace a fluid collection with scar tissue,
degrading the quality of the final result.
After placing the
tape, I re-drew the purple lines on the side of the nose that show the osteotomy tracts. We'll
want to see those lines when the metal splint is placed.
Note that this nose
might look a little shorter after taping than before. I place the tape
tightly, and the tight tape often torques the tip of the nose upwards. The tip will
eventually fall back to
its normal position. The tight tape at the tip can make the tip of the
nose look more narrow as well.
However, the surgeon should not expect the
tape to accomplish something that he failed to accomplish during surgery.
It won't. The tip may look more narrow or the nose shorter after it is
taped, but the only changes in appearance that will persist are those changes
that were made with scalpel and forceps, not with tape.
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