Effect on UK pinnaplasty figures
- Breast augmentation - up 9%
- Blepharoplasty – up 48%
- Liposuction – up 90%
- Face/neck lift – up 44%
- Breast reduction – up 19%
- Abdominoplasty – up 47%
- Rhinoplasty – up 18%
- Otoplasty – DOWN 20%
- Brow lift – up 50%
From BAAPS Audit of Surgical Activity 2006
Scottish pinnaplasty figures
Correct counselling vital
- Parents are too often told erroneously that deformities will settle.
- Most ear deformities are completely correctable with splintage within 2-3 weeks of birth.
"It is vital that neonatal paediatricians, obstetricians, general practitioners, and midwives are educated about early detection and how to initiate treatment themselves."
Lindford, Hettiaratchy, Schonauer BMJ Feb 2007
Parental use
- Splints available by phone and internet
- Easy for parents to fit
- Newborns only – success rate over 88%
- All comers - newborn to one year - 71% (includes over one third over 6 months of age)
- Full telephone and e-mail support by doctors
Consultant-lead and nurse-lead clinics
Courtesy of BMI Bishops Wood Hospital
Professional supervision increases success
Increasing litigation for failure to splint
"I am very upset that B... was born at the ... Hospital and ..... should have been corrected when he was first born"
Clinical Practice Recommendations
All babies born with obviously prominent or deformed ears benefit from being fitted with Ear Buddies as soon as possible, and preferably in the first week of life.
"All parents felt that auricular moulding was worthwhile."
Correction of deformational auricular anomalies by moulding - results of a fast-track service. Tan, Wright, Hemphill, Ashton, Evans. ... Journal of the New Zealand Medical Association, Vol 116 No 1181 2003
One third of sticking-out ears do not develop until three months, so particularly if there is a strong family history of prominent ears, consideration should be given to splinting even normal ears for just two weeks at birth.
Ears which are pushed forwards, for example during sleep, by clothing or head supports, by breast feeding, or by baby’s shoulder on head turning, are at risk of protrusion and deformity and should be splinted.
Medical Device Alert
Ref. MDA/2004/006
Issued: 2 February 2004
Beware of DIY splints which are not covered by product liability or other indemnity insurance.
"MHRA is aware of an increasing trend for off-label use of medical devices (use for purposes other than those intended by the manufacturer)."
"Do not use modified medical devices or non-medical products for clinical purposes unless there is no suitable CE-marked alternative."
As routine as car seats, seatbelts & braces....
"If successful, an effective splinting programme could consign the surgical correction of all but the most severe ear deformities to the past."
Lindford, Hettiaratchy, Schonauer BMJ Feb 2007
First Ear Buddy patient (Stahl's bar)
"Long term correction of ear deformity without surgery is now routinely possible using Ear Buddies splintage."
David Gault first published the results of his splintage technique in 1994. Splintage, or neonatal ear moulding, as it is sometimes called, has gathered support from independent sources worldwide as a way of avoiding the psychological problems associated with deformities of the ears and the morbidity and occasional mortality of surgery to correct them.
“Ear splinting is an elegant technique that should be practised on a wider scale than is done today.”
Non-surgical correction of congenital deformities of the auricle: A systematic review of the literature , 31 March 2009
M.P. van Wijk, C.C. Breugem, M. Kon
Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery
June 2009 (Vol. 62, Issue 6, Pages 727-736)
“Early splintage of pinna abnormalities in the neonatal period appears a cost effective and simple procedure which should be encouraged”
ENT News
“These deformities can be treated non-surgically in the early neonatal period, effectively, without anaesthetic and with minimal cost.“ “...the need for surgical correction may be largely avoided in the future.”
A splint for correction of congenital ear deformities
Tan, Shibu and Gault, British Journal of Plastic Surgery
“Non-hypoplastic congenital ear deformities are amenable to non-surgical treatment with splinting in the neonatal period”
When do ears become prominent?
Tan and Gault, British Journal of Plastic Surgery
“Ear splintage is an effective technique that should be more frequently offered to parents of affected neonates.”
Splintage for correction of congenital ear deformities
Schonauer, Fera, La Rusca and Molea, Presented at EURAPS Vienna
“According to the parents’ assessment, complete correction or marked improvement occurred in 29 of 35 anomalous ears (83%). All parents felt that auricular moulding was worthwhile.”
Correction of deformational auricular anomalies by moulding - results of a fast-track service.
SweeTan, Anna Wright, Anna Hemphill, Kari Ashton, Joan Evans
Journal of the New Zealand Medical Association,
12-September-2003, Vol 116 No 1181
www.nzma.org.nz/journal/116-1181/
Tan ST, Abramson DL, MacDonald DM, Mulliken JB. Molding therapy for infants with deformational auricular anomalies. Ann Plast Surg 1997;38:263–8.
Calder JC, Naasan A. Morbidity of otoplasty: review of 562 consecutive cases. Br J Plast Surg 1994;47:170–4.
Ullmann Y, Blazer S, Ramon Y, et al. Early nonsurgical correction of congenital auricular deformities. Plast Reconstr Surg 2002;109:907–15.
Matsuo K, Hirose T. A splint for non surgical correction of cryptotia. Eur J Plast Surg 1989;12:187–8.
Matsuo K, Hirose T, Tomono T, et al. Nonsurgical correction of congenital auricular deformities in the early neonate: a preliminary report. Plast Reconstr Surg 1984;73:38–51.
Matsuo K, Hayashi R, Kiyono M, et al. Nonsurgical correction of congenital auricular deformities. Clin Plast Surg 1990;17:383–95.
Bradbury ET, Hewison J, Timmons MJ. Psychological and social outcome of prominent ear correction in children. Br J Plast Surg 1992;45:97–100.
Thank you for your interest in Ear Buddies
We aim to respond by e-mail within one hour during business hours. If none of the categories below fit the bill, please e-mail support@earbuddies.co.uk and we will direct your query internally.
1. To order, please fax purchase orders to 01628 891 334, e-mail to orders@earbuddies.co.uk, or by mail to Willow House, Quarry Wood, Marlow, Bucks SL7 1RF.
2. Orders for 10 or less kits are charged at general internet rates, including postage. Orders for 11 units and over attract discounts as follows:
11 - 50 charged at 75% of full price
51 - 100 at 68% of full price
101+ at 60% of full price
3. To order a training Powerpoint CD, please e-mail: powerpoint@earbuddies.co.uk.
4. Training courses are held at several venues. Registration fee for the day is £15 (the first 5 registrations for each course are free). There are special arrangements for groups of ten or more. Please e-mail training@earbuddies.co.uk with your post code for available dates and locations.
5. For an up-to-date schedule of Mr Gault’s lecture dates in the UK and overseas, please e-mail lectures@earbuddies.co.uk.
6. To order leaflets or posters for waiting rooms, please e-mail patientinformation@earbuddies.co.uk.
7. Would you like to share the Case History of your splintage service for our new Case History page? Please e-mail casehistory@earbuddies.co.uk.