Description

This patient in her 70s had a skin cancer removed from the right nostril area (ala) and part of her right cheek. This created a through and through defect meaning the excision of cancer went all the way through the nostril and you could see inside her nose. This required reconstruction of both the inside of the nose, the cartilage that supports the nose, and the outside lining of the nose. To accomplish this she had what is called an ipsilateral septal hinge flap (the lining of the septum was used close the inside), cartilage from her ear was used to provide support, and the outside lining was repaired with a melolabial flap (part of her cheek was used to recreate the outside of the nose). This is a two-stage procedure but in the after photo, you can see how the nose has been reconstructed and looks very normal.