Prominent ear is one of the most common congenital ear anomalies with a prevalence of nearly 5% in the white race. It can cause psychosocial and emotional problems particularly during childhood. Children with a prominent ear may be ridiculed by their group of friends. For all these reasons, it is recommended that prominent ear surgery be performed before school age.
Unless this surgery is performed during childhood, it can be done any time later in life. The operation can be performed under general anesthesia in children and general, local anesthesia or sedation in adults.
There is not a standard technique for prominent ear in the world and there are more than 100 techniques described. The operation can be performed by making an incision behind the ear or in front of the ear. Having discussed the options with the patients and their relatives and explained the reasons, I decide on the most suitable technique for the patient based on the degree of ear anomaly. The basic objectives of the operation are permanent sutures and reshaping the ear cartilages and obtaining a natural look. During the procedure, I apply the posterior auricular muscle repositioning procedure that I have developed and a special suture technique that prevents reopening of the 1/3 of the upper part of the ear, which is the most frequent problem seen. This way, I ensure that the procedure is permanent and the results are more natural. After the surgery, children can stay at the hospital for one day whereas adults can be discharged in the same day. For about 4 to 6 weeks after the surgery, patients will use special bandages to keep the newly created form of the ear. As one of the operations that have high level of satisfaction, prominent ear surgery is an operation that I perform.
