Auricular avulsion injuries: Literature review and management algorithm

Abstract

Traumatic ear avulsion (TEA) may have tremendous psychological consequences if not managed properly. There are no clear guidelines on the surgical management of these injuries, especially in developing countries where microsurgical facilities are lacking. We aimed to review the literature on surgical management of TEA with the main focus on direct re-attachment (DR) so as to develop a surgical management algorithm that can be applied in the absence of microsurgical facilities. We performed an extensive review of the relevant English literature on papers indexed in PubMed describing TEA repaired with DR without restriction to a specific publication time window. A total of 28 cases in 18 publications were reviewed and analyzed. Our results indicate that in the acute setting with no available microvascular expertise, DR of auricular avulsion injuries can be better than other nonmicrosurgical techniques in generating good esthetic results, especially in incomplete auricular avulsion and small segment avulsion. The operative approach depends on the clinical setting. DR of the auricular avulsion injuries is an accepted approach. It produces good cosmetic outcomes while preserving the auricular area for future reconstruction in case of re-attachment failure.