Prosthetic Rehabilitation after Rhinectomy for Squamous cell carcinoma of nasal alae

Reconstruction of head and neck defects following mutilating cancer surgeries is an aesthetic challenge and can be accomplished either surgically or prosthetically. The methods of reconstruction are individualized based on the site, size, etiology, severity, age, and most importantly the patients desire. Surgical reconstruction techniques with micro vascular surgery using free flaps( 13-15) may be considered as treatment of choice. However, radiation therapy, anatomic complexity, possibility of recurrence, appearance of the area to be rehabilitated, and complexity of the surgical procedure may exclude surgical reconstruction as an option in a patient undergoing total rhinectomy. This case report describes the prosthetic rehabilitation of a young lady with albinism who underwent total rhinectomy for recurrent carcinoma of skin involving the nasal alae. Judicious use of this method of rehabilitation would go in a long way in socially integrating the cancer patients who have undergone mutilating surgeries as a part of the multimodality management.