A rhinectomy is the surgical removal of a nose.
If only part of the nose is removed it is called a partial rhinectomy, while entire nose removal is called a total rhinectomy. Often, a
nose prosthesis is required for rehabilitation.
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History
Rhinectomy has traditionally been a form of
disfiguring judicial corporal punishment
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
. The
ancient Egyptians removed the noses of some criminals and exiled them to the
Sinai towns of
Tjaru or
Rhinocorura
Rhinocorura ( grc-gre, Ῥινοκόρουρα, ''Rhinokóroura'', or , ''Rhinokoúroura'') or Rhinocolura (, ''Rhinokóloura'') was the name of a region and associated town (or towns) and rivers lying between Ancient Egypt and the Land of Israe ...
, whose own name was
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
for "nose removal". The
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...
, believing that
their emperor should represent a human ideal, removed the noses of both criminals and rival emperors, with the idea that such disfigurement disqualified its recipients from office. The notable exception was the second reign of , who gained the epithet ''Rhinotmetus'' or "the Slit-Nose".
See also
*
List of surgeries by type
Many surgical procedure names can be broken into parts to indicate the meaning. For example, in gastrectomy, "ectomy" is a suffix meaning the removal of a part of the body. "Gastro-" means stomach. Thus, ''gastrectomy'' refers to the surgical re ...
References
Surgical removal procedures
Nose surgery
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