Early experiences with the use of Earfold™ for correction of prominent ears

Abstract

Aim: This paper describes the author’s personal experience with using the minimally-invasive Earfold™ implant.

Methods: The author inserted the Earfold™ implant into 19 patients (5 men, 14 women) between November 2016 and June 2018. Bilateral implantation was performed in 14 patients. In 5 cases, implantation was limited to one ear. The author’s main indication for treatment was a helical-mastoid distance of more than 20 mm. Additional antihelixplasty of the upper ear was performed in 4 patients (2 primarily and 2 after explantation). One patient underwent simultaneous treatment of protruding ear lobes.

Results: The overall satisfaction rate was high, with 16 patients (84%) being satisfied or very satisfied. The procedure proved to be rapid with little down-time in the recovery phase. The demand for, and acceptance of the procedure was high. Although surgical otoplasty was always discussed as an alternative, no patient who presented for consultation chose standard otoplasty surgery. Complications occurred in 6 patients and implants were removed in 5 patients, 1 of them completely.

Conclusion: The EarfoldTM procedure is an interesting, minimally-invasive alternative to surgical otoplasty which produces results which patients are pleased with. However, in this early series, the complication rate was high. A hybrid technique might reduce the complications observed.

Keywords

Otoplasty / minimally-invasive surgery / Earfold™ procedure

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