PLASTIC SURGERY
Ear Surgery

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Ear Surgery

Protruding ears are the most common congenital deformity of the ears. Ear surgery corrects the shape of ears and gives them aesthetic appearance. Correction of the ears helps to reduce psychological distress in children, which is experienced at school due to teasing and ridicule by their peers. There are several reasons that cause the protrusion of the ears. One of the most common reasons is a failure of antihelix to develop fully or inadequately formed antihelix. In more rare cases, prominent ears may occur due to an enlarged concha. The shape of the ear like the size is determined before the birth; children often inherit protruding ears from their parents or grandparents. Therefore, the wide-spread opinion that prominent ears will set back closer to the head by themselves if a child sleeps with his/her head tightly wrapped with a headscarf is not true. The shape of the ear can be corrected only surgically. The ear grows fastest during the first years of life. The ears of a 6-year-old child reach 96% of the adult size; therefore, patients are operated on starting the age of 6 years.

Ear surgery takes about 1.5 hours. Special preparation of the patient for the surgery (depilation, premedication) is not needed. Usually the patient arrives, is operated on and leaves on the same day. The surgery is performed under local anaesthesia. During the surgery, the patient hears crunching of the cartilage, other sounds, but does not feel any pain. The incision is placed behind the ear. The antihelical fold is created. The cartilage is segmented from the back side; then the incision is placed in the cartilage of the back side of the seeming antihelix, and the anterior surface of the cartilage is separated. It is softened by scratching or scoring (fine cuts). The weakened cartilage is sutured from the back side; thus, a new rounded antihelix is formed. Stitches from the ears are removed in 7–8 days.

One hour after the surgery, the patient is allowed to go home. After surgery, the patient has to wear an ear bandage for 7 days, 24 hours per day. Following a week, after the removal of sutures, the ears have not to be bandaged; however, it is recommended to wear a gentle compressive headband at night for 8 weeks afterwards.
Most patients are happy with the results of this procedure and naturally looking ears.