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DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1727913
Quality of life in patients with epithetic nasal reconstruction after total rhinectomy
Introduction The management of nasal cavity tumors is often challenging as they tend to show locally aggressive growth requiring radical tumor excision with potentially mutilating changes to the patients’ outward appearance. While total rhinectomy procedures with ensuing epithetic reconstruction lead to excellent local tumor control rates, there is still a lack of knowledge regarding their long-term effect on patients’ aesthetic self-assessment and disease-specific quality of life immediately after surgery and especially after immediate recovery.
Material and methods 12 patients who underwent total rhinectomy between 2016 and 2019 at our institution followed by rehabilitation with a full nasal epithesis were included in the study. The FACE-Q, a patient-reported outcomes assessment tool, was used to measure adverse effects and quality of life. The FACE-Q measures 3 domains: facial appearance, health-related quality of life, and adverse effects. Seven scales were selected for this study.
Results Immediate and long-term adverse effects of total rhinectomy and placement of a nasal epithesis were predominantly limited to the immediate nasal region. While patients were satisfied with their nasal appearance, they reported a worse assessment of their overall facial appearance and a measurable long-term effect on their psychological well-being.
Conclusion Total rhinectomy and reconstruction with a full nasal epithesis is a safe and generally well tolerated procedure. However, the impact the impact on patients’ self-image and overall psychological well-being is considerable. Patients therefore require extensive pre-therapeutic counseling and ongoing support and follow-up.
Publication History
Article published online:
13 May 2021
© 2021. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
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