Otoplasty: Surgery to correct the position of the ears
Written by:What is otoplasty?
Otoplasty is a surgery that is aimed at correcting the deformity of the ear known as ears in a bump or ears in a bucket handle. This deformity consists in that during the formation in the embryo the fold of the antehélix has not been created. This is the fold of the helix and this is the fold of the anthelix. When this fold of the ear has not formed the ear takes an open angle and forms that deformity.
Which patients are candidates for this type of surgery? Which is the minimum age?
The minimum age at which this type of surgery can be performed is five years. From there the changes in the size and shape of the ear are minimal, which is the ideal time. Adults have no problem regarding the time of surgery and can be done at any time of life. On the other hand it is a very grateful surgery, that under normal conditions the results are definitive and that it solves a problem forever.
What is this surgery?
This surgery consists of recreating the antehélix fold. As I said before the fold of the anthelix is not formed or well defined in these patients which must be opened in the back of the ear, in the retroauricular fold and with that we access the anterior part of the ear without leaving visible scars. This cartilage in this area and at this precise point weakens to facilitate its conformation and the formation of this new fold, the fold is reinforced with some points that are not visible since they are on the back face and the scar on the face is closed posterior of the ear and we have finished the surgery. It is an intervention that is performed in children up to 15 or 16 years with general anesthesia and from that age or in adults is performed with local anesthesia without hospital admission. In some patients also associated there is an excess of shell, that is to say this cavity here. It is called the shell and sometimes there are some patients have this too big or too deep, so with the same approach we have done on the back we can reduce the size of this cartilaginous formation and thus we also fold and allow the ear to be stuck .
In which cases is a secondary otoplasty necessary?
A secondary otoplasty is that intervention, that otoplasty that is performed for the second time in the same patient and is intended to correct those defects or that situation that has not been solved correctly in the first intervention, because there has been a complication, because there has been a bad result or because there has been an insufficient result. The procedure, depending on the problem to be solved, will be one way or another. Normally the approach is the same, it is done on the posterior side so that there are no visible scars and the anterior face of the cartilage is accessed and any defects left in that area are corrected or corrected.
