Staging systems like those used to classify cancerous tumors could assist in educating patients about the complexity of rhinoplasty and help manage outcome expectations.
In a recent study published in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery, authors Regina Rodman, MD, and Russell Kridel, MD—both from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston—propose the use of the PGS Staging System.
The PGS Staging System uses three components: (P) problem, (G) graft, and (S) previous surgical procedures to determine the level of difficulty for a rhinoplasty. Another component (E) stands for Expectations. The authors believe expectations should happen jointly between the patients and surgeons preoperatively, explains a media release from The JAMA Network Journals.
“Rhinoplasty is a difficult procedure with a relatively high rate of revision compared with other cosmetic surgical procedures,” according to the authors of the article. “At present, physicians lack a system for evaluating the patient who presents for revision rhinoplasty.”
[Source(s): The JAMA Network Journals, Science Daily]
