Abstract
BACKGROUND: Prominent ears are the most common congenital anomaly of the head and neck. A complete understanding of the definition of prominent ears is necessary. The present retrospective study described guiding sutures to hold the antihelix in a temporary corrected position before placing the permanent Mustardé sutures. METHODS: This study was performed between January 2021 and February 2023. All patients with prominent ear deformities subjected to guiding sutures and Mustardé-based otoplasty were included. The surgical-related outcomes and surgeons' satisfaction were evaluated. The patients' satisfaction and health-related quality of life were reported. RESULTS: The current study included 60 patients with prominent ear deformities. There were 34 (56.66%) males and 26 (43.33%) females with a mean age of 12.2±7.8 years. The mean total operative time was 49±22 minutes. Five (8.33%) patients had suture extrusion, and no case of asymmetry, recurrence, or skin necrosis was documented. There were 55 (91.66%) patients satisfied with the final appearance of their ears, and five (8.33%) patients were not satisfied. The mean general health subscale was 57.1±6.9, and the mean physical health subscale was 8.7±1.5. CONCLUSIONS: The guiding sutures allowed easy accessibility for reshaping the antihelix in patients with prominent ears. These sutures allowed a relatively shorter operative time, and stable reshaping of the antihelix allowed for a shorter recovery time. This was associated with a low complication rate with no asymmetry, recurrence, or revision surgery. Patients operated on under local anesthesia achieved shorter operative time and better pain control. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE III: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .