A reconstruction of a nose was performed on a patient in Toulouse. This intervention was carried out using a 3D printer and “nursing” a synthetic graft on his forearm.
- The Toulouse researchers and doctors collaborated with the company Cerhum, which specializes in bone reconstruction.
- Initially, the graft was “nursed” in the patient’s forearm before being transplanted in the nasal region.
For the first time, ENT and Cervico-Facial surgery teams from Toulouse and the Claudius Regaud Institute have completely reconstructed a patient’s nose from a synthetic graft previously implanted in her forearm for the pre- vascularize. This surgical procedure was performed at the University Cancer Institute of Toulouse Oncopole (IUCT-Oncopole).
Nasal reconstruction performed on a fragile and poorly vascularized area
In 2013, the patient was treated with radiotherapy and chemotherapy for nasal cavity cancer. She was cured, but she lost a large part of her nose and the front part of her palate as a result of the treatments. “I have been cloistered at home for the past eight years. When you are sick, you isolate yourself and the face is what you see first”she told 20 minutes. She also experienced nasal reconstruction failures by grafting skin flaps and had difficulty supporting the wearing of a facial prosthesis.
A nasal reconstruction using custom-made biomaterial was then proposed to the patient. This surgical procedure was performed in two stages by Professor Agnès Dupret-Bories, ENT surgeon at the IUCT-Oncopole, and Doctor Benjamin Vairel, ENT doctor.
“This type of reconstruction had never before been performed on such a fragile and poorly vascularized area and was made possible thanks to the collaboration of the medical teams with the company Cerhum, a Belgian manufacturer of medical devices specializing in bone reconstruction. This new technique also makes it possible to overcome certain limitations presented by other techniques”can we read in a statement of the University Hospital Center of Toulouse, dating from November 7.
“I find the smells of my garden, I can go out, I live again”
As part of the nasal reconstruction, Cerhum engineers first 3D printed the biomaterial. In July 2022, it was placed “in nurse”, in other words implanted, at the level of the forearm of the patient. “It’s like a support that gives shape. The skin lives around it, the tissues go inside the biomaterial which is filled in by the cells of the patient’s body. The custom 3D printed biomaterial was put under the skin of the forearm so that it could be colonized and she kept it there for two months”said Professor Agnès Dupret-Bories, to our colleagues.
In September 2022, the nasal transplant was performed. “The device was thus able to be transplanted in the nasal region and successfully revascularized using microsurgery by anastomoses (creation of a connection between blood vessels) of the vessels of the skin of the arm on the vessels of the temple. of the patient”the researchers said.
Following the procedure, the patient was hospitalized for ten days and given antibiotics for three weeks. The operation was a success. “I find the smells of my garden, I can go out, I live again. It’s miraculous, this biomaterial was my last resort and I salute the research and the work of the doctors who helped me to hold on”, she said with joy. According to information from 20 minutesthe patient will have to undergo another operation to perform touch-ups on her nose as well as dental reconstruction.