Reconstruction of the Auricle Secondary to Prominent Ear Surgery

Abstract

Although operations to correct prominent ears would seem to be very easy, they are not, since the auricles present a very wide variety of abnormalities that must be thoroughly evaluated pre-operatively and the operation requires a meticulous approach. After talking to the patient, the surgeon should examine each auricle, checking all the alterations. The first step is to analyze the presence of scars due to previous surgeries.

Unsuccessful results from procedures for the esthetic treatment of prominent ears may be due to surgical difficulties that present an unesthetic appearance of the auricles. The problems may be due to inadequate pre-operative evaluation, poor surgical planning, the operation having been performed under inadequate hospital conditions, poor surgical technique, incompetent post-operative care, local infection after surgery, or tentative correction a very short time after primary surgery, or other causes of severe deformities of the auricles.