* The reason I wrote this post is to share that surgery must be decided on very carefully, that side effects can happen to anyone, and that if time passes, the condition can become irreversible, so treatment needs to be received quickly.
* If you have questions, send me a private message and I’ll answer.
[Facts]
-I had surgery by the head director of a plastic surgery clinic at Gangnam Station (an acquaintance): rhinitis + autologous costal cartilage (columella) + silicone (nasal bridge).
-Immediately after surgery, my nose turned black (necrosis symptom).
-When the splint and tape were removed, flesh from the nasal dorsum came off, creating a scar on the nasal dorsum. They recommended stem cell treatment, so they extracted fat from my thigh and did stem cell treatment (once). My thigh became uneven.
-A hole opened inside my nose. Calling it “localized inflammation,” they did not remove the silicone or autologous costal cartilage, and continued irrigation and antibiotic treatment until the one-month mark, then stopped.
-After that, I visited more than 5 times. They either said it was fine or gave antibiotic treatment, then removed the silicone three and a half months after surgery. They said the autologous costal cartilage did not need to be removed.
-After that, it got worse. When I went to another hospital, they said the autologous costal cartilage also had to be removed immediately, so it was removed right away (I was told that because it had been left for a long time, the autologous costal cartilage had crumbled).
-The director said I could have revision surgery after 6 months. I held on, believing it would be okay if I had revision surgery.
-After 6 months, I went around to a university hospital and hospitals specializing in nasal reconstruction for consultations. I was told, “This is not simple inflammation; it is necrosis. The cause appears to be a dissection issue. The damage is severe. A forehead flap is needed. Normal recovery will be difficult.” Even the university hospital refused surgery.
-This hospital uses a contract stating that <surgery fees are subsidized in return for writing a review, and if a negative review is written, damages must be paid>. Some may wonder what the problem is, but under this kind of contract, even if a problem occurs after surgery, people cannot write a negative review, so it does not become known, and the good reviews are not honest reviews but compensated reviews. That is the problem.
-I work in a face-to-face job, and I became unable to keep going to the company I had been attending without problems (the director said, “You can wear a mask.”).
[What I learned about necrosis]
-Necrosis is the death of tissue and cells, and the skin color becomes black or bluish.
-The cause of necrosis after nose surgery is impaired blood circulation, and it mainly occurs due to surgical factors.
-There is a “golden time (48-72 hours)” for treating nasal necrosis. If the necessary timely measures (hyperbaric oxygen therapy, implant removal, etc.) are not taken, irreversible scars and contracture occur.
-For reconstruction, a skin graft or forehead flap is needed, and even if some restoration is achieved after reconstructive surgery, the cosmetic shape is not good. A forehead flap leaves a scar on the forehead, and columellar skin loss in particular is the worst complication and is difficult to recover from.
-Unlike inflammation, necrosis is mainly caused by surgical factors, so physician negligence is more easily recognized. From the hospital’s standpoint, if necrosis occurs and they conscientiously diagnose necrosis right away, negligence is acknowledged, civil and criminal issues arise immediately, and above all, a major problem that immediately affects revenue can occur. But if they deliberately do not diagnose necrosis, negligence remains unclear, so they can continue operating as usual and stall for time, and even if negligence is acknowledged later, they may only need to compensate. If they have insurance, compensation can be handled through insurance. From the patient’s standpoint, if the golden time is missed, even after difficult reconstruction, normal recovery may be difficult, and even if you pay attorney fees and file a lawsuit, it can take years and it is not easy to receive 30 million won. You absolutely should not trust that the hospital will diagnose and treat everything properly on its own.