Purpose of review: This article reviews current practices in nasal valve repair and highlights recent innovations in the medical literature.
Recent findings: A surgeon's choice regarding a proper nasal valve repair technique depends heavily on the patient's site of obstruction. While classical maneuvers to improve the internal and external nasal valves have been employed for several decades, increasing understanding of lateral wall insufficiency and its role in nasal valve compromise has led to improvement of proposed methods for correcting the nasal valve. Radiofrequency-induced thermotherapy, the upper lateral strut graft, stairstep graft, and nasal valve lift techniques are described in detail. These four techniques offer innovative means of dealing with the challenge of nasal valve collapse resulting in nasal obstruction.
Summary: This review article provides an overview of the current practice in the field of nasal valve repair and summarizes recent technical advances in the field.