The Utility of Peri-operative Arnica Montana for Reduction of Ecchymosis in Rhinoplasty Surgery

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: Arnica montana is a homeopathic drug that is made in accordance with the official methods of the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States (HPUS) and is commonly used by cosmetic surgeons throughout the world, although there is no study proving its benefit after rhinoplasty surgery. The purpose of the research is to see if Arnica montana will reduce the amount of bruising and the intensity of the bruising after surgery. Photographs of the subject's face will be taken and used to analyze bruising after rhinoplasty surgery in subjects who receive Arnica montana and compare them to photographs of subjects who take a placebo (sugar pill).

Detailed Description: Subjects will receive either oral arnica montana or placebo without any identifying labels or markers on the drugs.

During the post-operative period, the patients will be seen back in surgery clinic on post-operative days 3, 7 and 10. During the first two visits, the subject will receive routine post-operative care with no difference from patients not enrolled in the study. This includes routine sets of photographs. The participant will then return for a third post-operative visit lasting under ten minutes only for study photos using the left and right "three-quarters" view. Again, the subject will hold a measurement marker so length measurements can be made, and this marker will be held under the ear to not interfere with the routine cosmetic analysis of the photographs. The digital photographs will be used to analyze the bruising for the study. The ratio was calculated by dividing the number of pixels of bruised area over number of pixels of standard area.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Adult patients who are deemed candidates for rhinoplasty surgery at UW Transformations will be eligible to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria

Patients who are prisoners
Patients who are pregnant and breast-feeding women
Patients taking anti-coagulants (such as blood thinners), anti-platelet drugs (such as NSAIDS), or other homeopathic remedies during the peri-operative period
Patients with a bruising or bleeding disorder
Patients who take oral corticosteroid therapy
Patients who suffer from severe liver or kidney disease
Patients with malignancy, infection, immunodeficiency, metabolic syndrome, infectious or inflammatory gastrointestinal disease
Patients with oral or contact allergies to Arnica montana or to any other member of the Asteraceae family of plants such as ragweed, chrysanthemums, marigolds, and daisies

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Placebo	Placebo	The subject will take twelve pills by mouth three times a day over four days.
Arnica Montana	Arnica montana	The subject will take twelve pills by mouth three times a day over four days.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Assess Extent of Bruising	Post-operative day 10	Primary outcome measure will be to measure the extent of bruising based on a ratio of pixels on post-operative day number ten. Every subject held a card in front of their face with a specific size marker. The square area of this marker was known and used to measure the number of pixels in this marker with Photoshop and compare it to the known area. Next the area of bruising was measured in number of pixels. Therefore for every photograph a standardized ratio of pixels was known because of the marker.

Secondary Outcome Measures