Microtia is a congenital entolaryngology disease that is mostly associated with abnormal development during the embryonic period. Many parents find that their children were born with microtia, and they feel extremely remorseful, and at the same time, they are very worried that the ear deformities will make their children discriminate and ridiculed by their classmates after going to school.
The most substantial effect of Microtia is to affect hearing and children's psychological development. According to the "Investigation and Research Report on the Psychological State of Patients with Microtia", more than 80% of patients with Microtia have different degrees of psychological problems, such as interpersonal sensitivity, social impairment, depression, hostility or aggression.
Children before the age of 3 do not pay much attention to their appearance, and the aesthetic concepts of 5- to 6-year-old children gradually appear, and they will slowly realize that they are different from their peers. When children with Microtia contact other children and find their differences with others, they may have an inferiority complex, and may even be isolated, which is not conducive to the growth of children.
How can children with Microtia go to school without being ridiculed? Only ear reconstruction surgery can help the child to restore normal pinna.
From the perspective of the stage of children's physical development and psychological impact, 6 to 10 years old is the best period for ear reconstruction surgery. However, it also needs to be determined according to the patient's physical development, if the figure is too thin and the amount of rib cartilage is insufficient, the sculpted pinna will be smaller, which is recommended to wait until the child is older before doing surgery.
There are three main surgical methods commonly used in ear reconstruction surgery: direct burial method, dilation method (all-inclusive method), and primary molding method. Since the possibility of exposing the stent by the one-time molding method is relatively large, the first two procedures are the most commonly used.
Both the direct burial method and the dilation method are staged surgeries, which are divided into two stages of surgery, and the third stage of ear adjustment surgery is done as appropriate.
1. The first stage of the direct burial method is to cut the rib cartilage into an auricular stent, cut a piece of rib cartilage and place it in the skin of the chest (the second stage of surgery is used as a foundation pile for the auricle); the carved auricular stent is placed in the skin of the ear and sutured and fixed. After half a year, the second stage of surgery is performed, the reconstructed pinna is lifted, the cartilage block in the skin of the chest is removed, the suture is fixed behind the ear, and then the post-ear wound is covered by temporal apical fascial flap transfer and skin grafting.
2. The first stage of the dilation method is to embed the dilator in the skin of the ear, inject water into the dilation sac regularly every week, and take out the dilation sac after 4 months of expanding the skin, and perform the second stage of surgery. Rib cartilage is cut and carved into ear braces and pinna piles, placed in the dilated skin, and sutured and fixed. Finally, the negative pressure attracts, allowing the auricular structure to stand out.
Parents can do their homework and compare the two surgical procedures before making a choice. Most importantly, be sure to choose a doctor with good skills and experience, so that the safety of surgery and the effectiveness of surgery can be guaranteed.