Revista de Cirurgia e Prática Clínica

Rhinoplasty in Middle Eastern nose

Ahmed Walaa AbouSheleib

“Middle Eastern” often refers to individuals of Arabic, Turkish, North African and Persian descent. Rhinoplasty on “Middle Eastern nose” possesses an added challenge for the surgeon, owing to certain anatomical characteristics that make Middle Eastern rhinoplasty difficult. Patients may present with a heavy thick skin envelope, bulbous tip, weak alar cartilages with limited support, nostril-tip imbalance and a droopy ill-defined nasal tip. The operative plan must take into account this vast majority of Middle Eastern nasal inherited features. Independent of the surgeon’s technical approach, understanding the concerns, goals and motivations for such patients who tend to be “perfectionists” together with preservation of the patient’s ethnic identity will make nasal surgery successful.

Ahmed Walaa AbouSheleib is an Egyptian Consultant of Otorhinolaryngology, subspecialized in Rhinoplasty and Facial Plastic Surgery. He received his Postgraduate medical training at Mayo Clinic (Rochester) MN, USA. As a Visiting Physician in several USA reputable universities, he got further training with the world’s well renowned rhinoplasty –facial plastic surgeons. His practice is based in Alexandria (Egypt). He is a frequent Lecturer, Physician Educator and active Researcher. He has lectured on several topics in rhinoplasty, both nationally and internationally. Facial plastic surgery enables him to help individuals ‘reconstruct’ areas of their face as well as provide options for people who would like to make aesthetic facial changes. His close relationships with many experts in this field across Europe and the USA enabled him to provide the best medical care for his patients through collaborative consultations in difficult facial plastic surgery cases.

Rhinoplasty remains one of the most challenging operations, as exemplified in the Middle Eastern patient. The ill-defined, droopy tip, wide and high dorsum, and thick skin envelope mandate meticulous attention to preoperative evaluation and efficacious yet safe surgical maneuvers. The authors provide a systematic approach to evaluation and improvement of surgical outcomes in this patient population.