BACKGROUND

Since the introduction of the BAHA (bone-anchored hearing aid), two main different surgical procedures have been used to insert the implant: the skin flap technique and the linear incision technique.

AIM OF THE STUDY

The aim of this retrospective study is to compare the short terms results (3 months after the implantation, the usual period of skin healing) of the skin healing process in the surgical field and around the BAHA implant of these two different techniques.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

113 implantations were done from January 2004 to mid May 2008. Between January 2004 to December 2006, 62 were inserted with the skin flap technique and between January 2007 to mid May 2008, followed by 51 with the linear incision technique. All cases were done by the same surgeon.

RESULTS

Four implanted BAHA with the skin flap technique necessitated a revision of the operating field because skin necrosis around the implant and only 1 with the linear incision technique. For the other cases and outside the normal range of fixed controls, the cases with the skin flap technique necessitated 25 unforeseen visits by 21 patients for cleaning and removal of crusts, in contrast to 2 visits by 2 patients for the cases with the linear incision technique.

CONCLUSION

This study clearly demonstrates that the linear incision technique has statistically lower risks of skin problems than the skin flap technique in the first three months post-implantation.