[Three patients with complications following piercing of the auricular cartilage]

In three patients, a 21-year-old man and females aged 16 and 18 years, piercing through the auricular cartilage was followed by an infection. Treatment left behind a residual deformity, for which a reconstruction was carried out with a satisfactory result. The risk of infection following piercing through the avascular cartilage of the helix and tragus of the pinna is greater than following piercing of non-cartilaginous tissue such as the ear lobe. (Peri)chondritis leads to chondral necrosis and subsequent deformities. It is important to recognise the early features of perichondritis, which include local heat, erythema and pain, before swelling appears. Treatment should focus on eradicating Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Surgical intervention is required at the earliest sign of an abscess. Reconstruction for a post-piercing deformity can be considered at a later stage.