Subnasal Lip Lift and its Effect on Nasal Esthetics

Abstract Background The subnasal lip lift has emerged as a standard procedure for treatment of the elongated upper lip. Despite its popularity, limited literature has studied its effect on nasolabial esthetics. The purpose of this study is to describe the effect of the subnasal lip lift on nasal and labial esthetic parameters. Methods The authors conducted a retrospective case review of patients who underwent a subnasal lip lift procedure without concurrent rhinoplasty between January 1st, 2008 and December 31st, 2019. The outcome variables were lip length, tooth show, vermillion display, alar width, nasolabial angle, columellar-lobular angle, Crumley analysis, and Simons analysis. Preoperative and postoperative values were compared and analyzed using paired sample t-tests. Results Overall, 55 female patients with an average age of 52 years and a mean follow up of 14 months were included in the study. Subnasal lip lift resulted in a statistically significant 21.5% reduction lip length, 31.5% increase in vermilion show, and a 1.52mm increase in tooth show (p Conclusion Subnasal lip lift procedure can significantly impact lower nasal esthetics, specifically by decreasing the nasolabial angle and potentially contribute to pseudo-overprojection of the nasal tip as shown by the results of this study.