Revolutionary Ear Surgery Technique
Surgery for the correction of prominent ears is a relatively common occurrence and one that is often undertaken when the patient is still a child. Ears that stick out are observable early in childhood and are often the subject of taunts out on the schoolyard. For both children and adults, the procedure requires general anesthetic and hours of surgery.
Plastic surgeons usually go about reshaping the ear’s cartilage, the material that shapes and positions the ear. Cartilage can be pinned back against the skull, can be sculpted to be less prominent, or can be grafted from another spot on the body to create a more pleasing form. In all cases, hours of surgery are required along with the anesthetic and the post-op recovery time.
In September of 2007 there was an article in the British Sunday paper The Observer about a British plastic surgeon named Norbert Kang who has developed an intriguing option to the current options for otoplasty. Dr. Kang is a practicing plastic surgeon associated with the Royal Free Hospital in London. What he has done is devise a pre-shaped implant made from a nickel and titanium alloy that is used to alter the position of the ear on the side of the skull.
Dr. Kang calls his invention an Ear Scaffold – or rather, Ear Scaffolds as they come in several shapes. They are extremely thin at two tenths of a millimeter; narrow at about four millimeters wide and are one and a half centimeters long. Some are bent on a curvature, like a portion of a circle, and some are a relaxed ell shape like the head of a hockey stick and the bottom portion of the shaft.
According to Dr. Kang, “Ear Scaffolds come in several different curves and shapes which can cater to the different shapes of ears and the different positions that patients may want their ears to assume following the procedure.” These devices are designed to be inserted through a small opening in the front of the ear, just beneath the outer rim. Local anesthetic is applied and between one and three of the devices are inserted, depending on what the patient wants to achieve in the reshaping of the ear.
The alloy for these implants allows them to have a programmed “memory” of their original shape; they will snap back to their original shape once they have been manipulated into position and reposition the ear cartilage accordingly. Dr. Kang has also developed an applicator for the implants that, he says, allows for precise placement of the devices.
The doctor says that the entire process takes about ten minutes per ear, a brief period that even a child can sit through. Currently an otoplasty procedure averages forty five minutes per ear, or an hour and a half not including anesthetic application. Over a period of six months or so the inserts will pull the ear cartilage into the desired position, after which they can be removed. While in place, however, they are virtually undetectable.
Dr. Kang notes that usually only a small portion of the ear needs to be folded backward to achieve a more normal looking ear. He believes that his device can both shorten and simplify the procedure, and eliminate many of the problems that can arise such as suture difficulties, bleeding, infections, etc.
The Ear Scaffold continues to draw attention, including a recent mention in the Cosmetic Surgery Times in this country. However there appears to be little progress in the way of getting a formal process underway for FDA approval. While Dr. Kang says he hopes for human trials within the next year, he does not say how he intends to institute his study, which he will presumably pursue in Britain. Neither the FDA, nor the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) nor the British Association of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS) have any mention of the new technology on their websites.
