Pauwels Jasper, Cambier Bernard
Faculty of Medicine, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
Department of Plastic Surgery, Sint-Blasius Hospital, Dendermonde, Belgium.
J Plast Reconstr Surg. 2024 Nov 22;4(2):69-74. doi: 10.53045/jprs.2024-0017. eCollection 2025 Apr 27.
This article reports the long-term results of the minimally invasive Earfold™ device.
Between May 2017 and January 2021, 19 patients (7 men and 12 women) received an Earfold™ implant. Fifteen patients had bilateral implants placed, and among them, 2 received 2 implants per ear. In 4 cases, placement was limited to one ear. In one patient, a concurrent earlobe correction was performed.
Of the 22 patients assessed with Prefold™, 19 chose for this option instead of surgical otoplasty, 2 chose not to undergo any surgery, and one was not found fit for the procedure by the surgeon. Six patients suffered from a complication and had their implants removed. One additional patient requested to have his implants removed as well.
The Earfold™ implant is a promising, minimally invasive alternative for standard otoplasty treatment. Nevertheless, in our series, a notable high complication rate was observed, often necessitating implant removal, particularly in the long term. Despite recognizing a learning curve, the surgeon in this study chose to discontinue the use of Earfold™ implants.
本文报告微创Earfold™装置的长期效果。
2017年5月至2021年1月期间，19例患者（7例男性和12例女性）接受了Earfold™植入。15例患者双侧植入，其中2例每侧耳朵植入2个。4例仅在一侧耳朵植入。1例患者同时进行了耳垂矫正。
在接受Prefold™评估的22例患者中，19例选择此方法而非手术耳成形术，2例选择不进行任何手术，1例被外科医生认为不适合该手术。6例患者出现并发症并取出了植入物。另有1例患者也要求取出其植入物。
Earfold™植入物是标准耳成形术治疗的一种有前景的微创替代方法。然而，在我们的系列研究中，观察到显著的高并发症发生率，通常需要取出植入物，尤其是从长期来看。尽管认识到存在学习曲线，但本研究中的外科医生仍选择停止使用Earfold™植入物。
