Full Anterior Scoring Otoplasty

Lop ear deformity is the most common head and neck congenital malformation with an estimated incidence of 5% among newborns. Otoplasty is the surgical procedure designed for its correction. More than 200 surgical techniques have been described so far to treat this condition, most of them including a cartilage weakening maneuver to avoid the relapse of the original auricle shape a few months after surgery. Classic techniques, such as like Mustarde's, describe this maneuver through scoring the posterior side of the cartilage and stabilizing the new shape with sutures. Cartilage biomechanical properties work against posterior scoring since cartilage folding occurs in the contralateral side of the scoring. This critical point may explain the high rates of relapse in the posterior scoring otoplasty techniques. In this paper, we present our surgical otoplasty technique with anterior scoring and we discuss specific tips and its nuances. We believe that the anterior scoring otoplasty technique achieves natural ears with both low complication rates and significant reduced long-term relapses.