Surgical correction of pinna malformations.

Background: Auricle reconstruction is a surgical procedure described in the medical literature as early as 600 BC. The aim of the present paper is to review these attempts and their results.

Methods: Literature search and medical history books were used as scientific sources.

Results: More than 40 different cartilagenous, osseous or other alloplastic frame materials (autogenous tibial bone, iliac bone, mastoid bone, maternal auricular cartilage, autogenous nasoseptal cartilage, allogenous meniscus, autogenous meniscus and many more) have been used since 1891. From approximately 40 reconstruction procedures that had been proposed, only eight were still in use in the 1980s. The reason for abandoning the majority of these surgical techniques was the unacceptable aesthetic result. However, at the end of the 20th Century two new techniques were introduced. These techniques were designed by Satoru Nagata and Burt Brent. Both techniques provide cosmetic and functional results that are acceptable both to the patient and to the surgeon.

Conclusions: Although the outcome of surgical auricle reconstruction was in general disappointing through the centuries, at the end of the 20th Century new surgical methods were established and at the present time auricle reconstruction can be attempted with acceptable results.