What Does Microtia Treatment Involve?

Microtia – Understand More about the Abnormal Conditions of Ears

Microtia is a congenital condition where the pinna of the ear does not develop fully. Children may have visible deformity for one or both ears. Often 90% of children have defects with one external ear. If the inner ear canal is developed, then there will not be any trouble in hearing. Through a reconstructive surgery it is possible to rectify external ear abnormalities. Consult a certified plastic surgeon having experience in microtia treatment to know what microtia treatment involves.

Microtia is categorized into four depending on increasing severity. They are:

Grade I – This is the least severe form of microtia with recognizable ear structures. Presence of external auditory canal is an advantage.

Grade II – Presence of partial ear structure often with a blocked or stenotic external ear canal. This condition causes conductive hearing damage.

Grade III - One of the most common types of microtia with a vestige part of external ear. Ear drum and external ear canal are absent in this condition.

Grade IV – Total absence of ear, normally referred to as anotia.

What Does Microtia Treatment Involve?

An autologous reconstructive surgery can repair or rebuild the abnormalities of the external ear. In autologous reconstruction, rebuilding of the new ear is done using the rib cartilage of the child. The surgeon would advise you to wait until the child is six years of age, so that his/her rib cartilage will have developed effectively to use for ear reconstruction.

The surgery takes place in the following manner:

• The first stage involves rebuilding of the new ear from the rib cartilage harvested from the child. A symmetrical ear structure is carved out of the cartilage.

• The cartilage is then placed underneath the skin where the ear should be. The skin takes the shape of the cartilage to form into a natural looking ear. Rebuilding the shape of the ear canal is also done if there is a problem with the external ear canal. The surgery takes up to five hours and requires a recovery period of three days.

• The next stage of the surgery is four months after the above stages. By this time the ear would have completely healed. The fully developed ear is elevated from the side of the head with the help of a new skin graft and a small cartilage block.

External ear reconstruction is done completely before starting with other internal ear surgeries.

Always consult an experienced and certified plastic surgeon to plan the treatments related to microtia ear reconstruction. It is important for you to understand what microtia treatment involves as well as the expected outcomes. Make sure that you select an AAAASF accredited plastic surgery facility for microtia ear surgery to benefit from excellent results.