Clinical Application Of Auricle Reconstruction In The Treatment Of Congenital Microtia Using Soft Tissue Skin Expander

Objective: Discussion the operative techniques of auricle reconstruction using soft tissueskin expander,and summarize their advantages and disadvantages.Method: A total of16cases of auricle reconstruction using soft tissue skin expander wasperformed from December2009to December2011.Discussion the auriclere constructionsurgery using soft tissue skin expander according to the clinical data.The surgery havetwo stages,the one-stage operation is implanting soft tissue skin expander,the two-stageoperation is carveing autogenous rib cartilage framework and covering with fascial flapand expanded flap.Then tragus reconstruction,cavity of concha deepen operation, andlocal shape trimming operation can be performed according to requirement of patients.Result:The16patients of microtia were treated successfully.Two cases occurredhematoma after the one-stage operation.One case occurred chronic effusion at theinjection pot,but the reconstructed ear was in good shape after auricle reconstruction. Inother one case,the distal part of the flap was necrotic,then had healed after scabs felloff.After6-12months following up, the reconstructed ears were all in good shapewithout distortion and cartilage resorption, the locations, sizes and appearances ofreconstructed ears were similar to uninjured sides.Conclusion: The auricle reconstruction using soft tissue skin expander have a highsuccess rate,the shape of reconstructed ear are lifelike.At present time, it was a goodmethod to use soft tissue skin expander in auricle reconstruction.