Dorsal Nasal Mucocele: A Delayed Complication of Rhinoplasty

Mucocele formation is a very rare complication of rhinoplasty surgery, with only 26 incidences documented in the medical literature. Postrhinoplasty nasal mucoceles are believed to result from the growth of ectopic nasal respiratory epithelium displaced during the rhinoplasty procedure. Although most cases of nasal mucocele present within weeks of rhinoplasty surgery, exceptional accounts describe nasal mucoceles presenting years after rhinoplasty. This case report describes an extremely delayed case of dorsal nasal mucocele that presented 21 years after the patient underwent a septorhinoplasty. The aesthetically bothersome mucocele was successfully removed with an open rhinoplasty approach, and the histopathologic analysis was consistent with a simple benign mucous retention cyst. The history, etiology, and prevention of mucocele formation in rhinoplasty surgery also are discussed.

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