Hippokratia 2003, 7(3):108-112
St Triaridis, Iord Konstantinidis, Ath Triaridis, I Petropoulos, N Benis, K Karagiannidis, G Kontzoglou
ENT Clinic, Hippokratio General Hospital, Thessaloniki, Greece
Abstract
The auricle has a significant role in facial symmetry. Protruding ears may be a source of psychological distress in either sex and at any age. For this reason surgical reconstruction becomes often necessary, having as a rule a truly gratifying psychological response to a well performed otoplasty. In a period of 12 years (1990-2002) 112 patients underwent an otoplasty with the use of several techniques in ENT Department of Hippokratio General Hospital of Thessaloniki. More specifically 46 patients underwent an otoplasty with converse technique, 23 patients with Mustarde technique, 14 patients with Stark-Saunders technique, 8 patients with Stenstrom-Bergstrom technique, 11 patients with Furnas technique and 10 patients with Epstein-Kabaker technique. The vast majority of patients had an excellent outcome in a follow up appointment 6 months to 1 year postoperatively. In cases of weak cartilage, techniques using sutures were preferable. When the cartilage was strong, then a cartilage-weakening procedure was chosen. Complication rate was extremely low. Early complication was seen in only 1 patient who developed perichondritis and treated successfully with antibiotics and ointment. Late complications included 5 cases of residual deformity and 2 cases of granulomas as a reaction in nonresorbable sutures. We present our results and analyze the advantages and disadvantages of each technique and the complication rate, with a revue of the current literature.