Early Cosmetic Results and Midterm Follow-up Findings of Rhinophyma Patients Treated With High-Frequency Electrosurgery and a Discussion on the Severity Assessment of the Disease

Abstract

Background: Different methods can be used in the surgical treatment of patients with rhinophyma. There are limited numbers of reports on high-frequency electrosurgery treatment. In addition, an efficient scoring system is required to evaluate severity of the disease in clinical progress and recurrence after treatment. Objectives: We evaluated patients with rhinophyma who were treated with high-frequency electrosurgery and discussed the methods used to assess severity of the disease. Methods: Data and photos of 13 patients were retrospectively evaluated and scored via 2 different forms of the rhinophyma severity index. Results: Median rhinophyma severity index scores of patients at first visits were significantly higher than those at second and third visits (P = .002 and P = .002, respectively). Likewise, median modified rhinophyma severity scores of patients at first visits were significantly higher than those at second and third visits (P = .001 and P = .001, respectively). Also, there was a strong positive correlation between these 2 assessment methods (r = 0.838, P < .001). Conclusions: The rhinophyma severity assessment methods used in this study are positively correlated. High-frequency electrosurgery seems to be a procedure that is safe, effective, and relatively cost-effective in the treatment of rhinophyma lesions.