Non-surgical Correction of Congenital Ear Anomalies: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

Summary Congenital ear anomalies have been known to cause lasting psychosocial consequences for children. Congenital ear anomalies can generally be divided into malformations (chondro-cutaneous defect) and deformations (misshaped pinna). Operative techniques are the standard for correction at a minimal age of 5–7, exposing the children to teasing and heavy complications. Ear molding is a non-operative technique to treat ear anomalies at a younger age. Having been popularized since the 1980s, its use has increased over the past decades. However, uncertainties about its properties remain. Therefore, this review was conducted to look at what is known and what has been newly discovered in the last decade, comparing different treatment methods and materials. A literature search was performed on PubMed, and 16 articles, published in the last decade, were included. It was found that treatment initiated at an early age showed higher satisfactory outcome rates and a shorter duration of treatment. A shorter duration of treatment also led to higher satisfactory rates, which might be attributable to age at initiation, individual moldability, and treatment compliance. Complications were minor in all articles. Recurrence rate was low and mostly concerned prominent ears, which proved to be the most difficult to correct deformity as well. Malformations, however, were even more difficult to treat than deformations. Our analysis shows ear molding to be a successful treatment method for ear anomalies with a preference for early diagnosis and treatment.

Using ear molding to correct auricular helix adhesion deformity

“…Encouragingly, ear molding as a non-invasive technique could correct auricular deformities and slight malformations safely and effectively. The molding could be initiated long before the onset of teasing, bullying, and loss of self-esteem ( 23 ). We found some ear molding studies may include several cases of helix adhesion, although these cases were not named helix adhesion, the morphological features of the ear figures indicated that patients were with the helix adhesion deformity ( 1 , 11 ).…”

Changes of Age‐related Auricular Cartilage Plasticity and Biomechanical Property in a Rabbit Model

“…Encouragingly, ear molding offers a surgery‐free opportunity to correct auricular deformations and slight malformations in the neonatal period. This is long before the onset of teasing, bullying, and lowered self‐esteem 3,4 . If corrections are initiated after the time window, however, the total treatment time can be much longer, and the outcomes are less favorable.…”

Presentation and Management Outcome of Unilateral and Bilateral Prominent Ears with Standard Otoplasty Techniques

“…However the anomaly carries serious psychosocial repercussions for the child as well as the parents. [4][5][6][7] Regarding timing of surgical correction of the prominent ears, there is universally agreed age of the sufferer. Most of the authorities recommend it to be performed before the age of school going.…”