Nonsurgical correction of congenital auricular deformities in children older than early neonates

Abstract

Objective:To report the nonsurgical correction of congenital auricular deformities in children older than 3 months, analysis the effect and the recurrence and the influencing factors. Method:Patients with auricular deformities who came to our department from July 2017 to August 2019 were collected. EarWell correction was performed for non-invasive correction. Follow-up was performed for at least 3 months after treatment. Data was collected to analysis the effect and the recurrence and the influencing factors. Result:At the end of follow-up, 76 cases of 88 ears were collected, at the end of treatment in this group, the efficiency was 87.5%, and the recurrence rate was 19.48%, 3 months after the end of treatment. There was a statistically significant difference in the distribution of auricle deformities（P=0.018） and the age of first treatment（P=0.028） between children in the effective group and those in the ineffective group. Of all the auricle deformities, the treatment of cryptotia was the most effective, and the effectiveness of prominent ears was the lowest. The family history（P=0.314）, gender（P=0.421）, and feeding method（P=0.557） of the effective and ineffective groups. There was no significant difference in the gestational weeks at birth（P=0.641）, the mode of production（P=0.849）, and birth weight（P=0.08）. There was no significant difference in age between the relapsed group and the non-relapsed group at the age of first treatment（P=0.833）.There was significant difference in the distribution of auricle deformities between the relapsed group and the non-relapsed group（P=0.013）. There was no statistically significant difference between the effective group and the ineffective group at the age of first diagnosis and treatment time if we exclude cryptotia. Conclusion:For children who are treated beyond the treatment time window, the main factor affecting the treatment effect is the type of deformity. Nonsurgical correction can still be tried for older than 3 months with auricular deformities, especially for cryptotia, ear wheel deformities, and auricular cavity deformities. We do not recommend to try nonsurgical correction for children older than 3 months with prominent ears and cup ears.