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Schuster. Plast Aesthet Res 2018;5:22 Plastic and
DOI: 10.20517/2347-9264.2018.13 Aesthetic Research

Original Article Open Access

Early experiences with the use of Earfold™ for
correction of prominent ears

Bernd W. Schuster

Private Clinic for ENT Surgery and Facial Plastic Surgery, Theatinerstrasse 46, Munich D-80333, Germany.

Correspondence to: Dr. Bernd W. Schuster, Private Clinic for ENT Surgery and Facial Plastic Surgery, Theatinerstrasse 46, Munich
D-80333, Germany. E-mail: hno-theatiner46@live.de

How to cite this article: Schuster BW. Early experiences with the use of Earfold™ for correction of prominent ears. Plast Aesthet Res
2018;5:22. http://dx.doi.org/10.20517/2347-9264.2018.13

Received: 1 Mar 2018 First Decision: 30 Mar 2018 Revised: 15 May 2018 Accepted: 20 May 2018 Published: 17 Jul 2018

Science Editor: Raúl González-Garcia Copy Editor: Jun-Yao Li Production Editor: Huan-Liang Wu

Abstract
Aim: This paper describes the author’s personal experience with using the minimally-invasive Earfold™ implant.

Methods: The author inserted the Earfold™ implant into 19 patients (5 men, 14 women) between November 2016 and
June 2018. Bilateral implantation was performed in 14 patients. In 5 cases, implantation was limited to one ear. The
author’s main indication for treatment was a helical-mastoid distance of more than 20 mm. Additional antihelixplasty of
the upper ear was performed in 4 patients (2 primarily and 2 after explantation). One patient underwent simultaneous
treatment of protruding ear lobes.

Results: The overall satisfaction rate was high, with 16 patients (84%) being satisfied or very satisfied. The procedure
proved to be rapid with little down-time in the recovery phase. The demand for, and acceptance of the procedure was
high. Although surgical otoplasty was always discussed as an alternative, no patient who presented for consultation
chose standard otoplasty surgery. Complications occurred in 6 patients and implants were removed in 5 patients, 1 of
them completely.

Conclusion: The Earfold procedure is an interesting, minimally-invasive alternative to surgical otoplasty which
TM
produces results which patients are pleased with. However, in this early series, the complication rate was high. A hybrid
technique might reduce the complications observed.

Keywords: Otoplasty, minimally-invasive surgery, Earfold™ procedure

© The Author(s) 2018. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use,
sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as long
as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license,
and indicate if changes were made.

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