A 500-year-old ‘Italian’ technique helps treat an 18-year-old's nose

18-year-old Komal Dhale had given up hopes on her absent nasal bone until she met senior plastic surgeon Dr Nitin Mokal of the state-run Gokuldas Tejpal (GT) hospital. 

The senior surgeon was successful in carrying out 500-year-old Tagliacozzi method of surgery which was pioneered by an Italian surgeon Gaspare Tagliacozzi in the 16th century. Though it was a time-consuming method, it proved fruitful for Dhale. It took three months for the whole process and Dhale’s happiness knew no bounds.

Before meeting the senior surgeon, Dhale underwent forehead flap surgeries twice to reconstruct her nose in Ahmednagar which were not successful and left her with scars on her forehead.

Ahmednagar resident Dhale tried forehead flap surgery twice in 2015 and 2016 but it did not work out. She was left with scars on her forehead because of which she stopped socialising. Finally, her family approached Dr Mokal in August who advised them to ger Dhale admitted in GT Hospital.

Timeline of the surgery

- Dhale was admitted to the hospital on August 29 and the surgery was going to take place in four stages
- The first surgery started on August 31, where doctors prepared the pedicle tube from her left arm which took around a month.
- On September 28, the second stage began, where a part of her rib bone was grafted on her nose and the arm flap was attached to the nose tissue.
- After the wait of four weeks, her arm was raised for 25 days until the skin of her arm attached to her nose
- On October 25, Dhale finally brought her arm down.
- Now, the skin on the nose will be shaped to resemble a nose, after a week.

She underwent two surgeries where the skin of her forehead was used but it was not successful. So, I decided to go for the ancient method. In my 20-years of career, this is the fourth time I am conducting this type of surgery,” Dr Nitin Mokal, Senior Plastic Surgeon, GT Hospital.

Who was Gaspare Tagliacozzi?

He was an Italian surgeon based at the University of Bologna and became famous for his skill in reconstructive surgery, and especially for the 'Italian method' of rhinoplasty. He improved the reconstructive surgery methods to repair noses which involved using ‘Italian Method’ which involved taking skin from the arm.