A Good Night's Sleep with a Pretty Nose

Objective: Several studies confirm the relationship between nasal surgery and the quality of sleep, but these surgical interventions are limited to septoplasty, turbinectomy and nasal polipectomy. Rhinoplasty is not limited to functional surgical interventions therefore the outcome of cosmetic surgical procedures should also be taken into consideration. Methods: A study was conducted to determine the effect of cosmetic rhinoplasty with or without additional septoplasty on the quality of sleep. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to determine sleep quality. A comparative analysis between preoperative and postoperative scores was performed along with a correlation analysis to test the relationship between sleep quality and nasal breathing. Results: Although both preoperative and postoperative values were consistent with "good" sleep quality, the increase of the quality of sleep was significant for cosmetic rhinoplasty. For patients who had additional septoplasty, the improvement in sleep quality was significant and sleep quality changed from "poor" to "good". Septoplasty patients were then further evaluated according to the postoperative relief of their nasal breathing complaints. Patients who claimed they no longer had any breathing problems showed a significant change in score, while the change in score was insignificant for patients who still experienced nasal breathing problems. Conclusion: Previous studies have demonstrated the positive impact of septoplasty on the sleep quality, but this study also shows an increase of sleep quality with cosmetic rhinoplasty without septoplasty. Structural changes resulting from rhinoplasty alone can have a positive influence in increasing nasal airflow.