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Unfortunately, we see many patients in our country and abroad, who have been operated many times by unskilled hands, whose cartilage is depleted, and the skin of the area to be used for ear reconstruction is completely damaged. These patients often come to us with odd formations that do not resemble the normal ear, resulting from previous unsuccessful surgeries. In our clinic, we can produce secondary ear reconstruction solutions for these unfortunate patients.
For these patients, if the skin of the area to be used for ear construction is sufficient and there is no circulation problem, the old, malformed cartilages are removed and a new ear reconstruction can be performed in two stages. In patients with skin problems but intact regional vascular structures, a membranous structure called the superficial temporoparietal fascia (TPF), located under the scalp can be used to provide blood supply of the new ear. In this approach the TPF is a vital structure to provide blood circulation and nutrition for both the cartilage and the outer skin cover. Of course, creating a new auricle in those secondary cases is a real challenging procedure. There is always a real risk of partial or complete loss of the auricle as a result of cartilage melting and circulatory failure of the skin coverage due to previously unmeasurable factors. All these risks make those patients, who come to us after unsuccessful surgeries, one of the most difficult issues to deal with in the field of ear reconstruction. However, you still do not need to be despair, as we have a huge experience in this group of patients. Dr. Mutaf would decide which method will be applied in such cases, after meeting face to face with the patient and his/her family to discuss about the treatment alternatives that will be suitable for each patient.
It is much more difficult to make a new ear in patients who have previously undergone unsuccessful surgeries compared to patients who have not undergone surgery.
