The Aesthetic Outcome of a Combined Otoplasty Technique in Children with Prominent Ears; a Prospective Clinical Study

Abstract

The aim of this work is to assess the aesthetic outcome of a combined technique of otoplasty in correction of combined auricular deformities in children and to evaluate the effect of cartilage scoring in newly created antihelical fold. Methods: The study is a clinical trial in which 30 cases of prominent ears are divided into two groups. The study was done at Plastic, Burn and Maxillofacial surgery department, Demerdash hospital, Ain Shams university in the period from 1/1/2018 to 31/12/2018. Group A (15 cases) performed otoplasty using the combined approach of otoplasty including: conchal excision, anterior cartilage scoring, conchoscaphal sutures and conchomastoid sutures. Group B (15 cases) performed otoplasty using the same technique omitting the scoring step. The comparison between the two groups was based on 3 aspects: Auricular anthropometric measurements measured preoperative, one month and three months postoperative, patient satisfaction using a questionnaire form and the occurrence of complications whether early or late. Results: In our study, we assessed the combined technique of otoplasty, merging cartilage scoring with Mustardé sutures and Furnas sutures (Group A) and compared the results of this technique with the results omitting the cartilage scoring step (Group B) regarding surgical outcomes in the form of pre and post operative anthropometric measurements, patients' satisfaction in the form of postoperative questionnaire and safety of the technique in the form of the rate of postoperative complications. The surgical outcomes of patients of group A and B were good with no major difference. The patients' satisfaction of group A was slightly more than group B but still insignificant. Hematoma formation was more in group A than group B.