Splinting therapy for congenital auricular deformities with the use of soft material.

Congenital auricular deformities present serious esthetic problems. To avoid surgical correction, splinting during the early neonatal period has been attempted. We describe the results and follow-up of splinting therapy with a special soft material in 30 neonates, as compared with results in a control group of 20 untreated newborn infants. Good results were achieved in 85% of the patients and sufficient results in 15% when the treatment was continuous over the entire 4-week period. However, when treatment was partial or discontinuous, only 10% had good results. None of the infants in the control group showed spontaneous improvement during the period of study. Moreover, early initiation of treatment (first week of life) proved more effective than later treatment (second week of life). Strong parental cooperation and close follow-up are also important for success.