INTRODUCTION: Cosmetic and reconstructive surgery aims to use surgical procedures to achieve esthetic and functional improvement in patients with traumatic injuries, or congenital or developmental anomalies. All branches of medical sciences, including rhinoplasty and its variations, have made progress in recent years and technical advances are allowing good long-term results. Rhinoplasty in the late 19th century was basically a reconstructive procedure employed for the reconstruction of large nasal mutilations. The early 20th century saw a rapid and worldwide dissemination of rhinoplasty as an esthetic procedure; with the passage of time rhinoplasty has become more conservative in its approach, dealing with modeling rather than resections with a significant reduction of need for cartilage and osteotomies; it also provides the possibility of concomitant functional treatment. The number of rhinoplasties and their variations, e.g., functional, esthetic, reconstructive and post-traumatic, has been increasing consistently. Rhinoplasty is increasingly concerned with the functional aspects of the nose beyond its original focus on esthetic results. The nose is a complex anatomical region in which small functional changes can result in large losses to the patient. Thus, the study of rhinoplasty techniques associated with septoplasty has gained prominence in otolaryngology referral services. Objective To evaluate rhinoplasty and its variations. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Three hundred and twenty-eight rhinoplasties were selected, out of which 218 (66.4%) were functional, 49 (14.9%) were for post-traumatic repair, 43 (13.1%) were for esthetic reasons, and 18 (5.6%) were reconstructive (Chart 1). A high prevalence of functional rhinoplasty (66.4%) was observed in our study, which shows the growth in demand for surgeries that combine aesthetic and functional improvements.
