Donor-site morbidity of ear cartilage autografts

The external ear provides a versatile cartilage source for reconstructive procedures, especially for augmentative rhinoplasty. The authors evaluated the short- and long-term morbidity associated with ear cartilage harvest using concha, tragus, and scapha as donor sites.

The study included 52 patients in whom a cartilage graft from the external ear was harvested between February of 2001 and June of 2005. Donor-site morbidity was assessed in the early postoperative follow-up period. Twenty-eight patients were examined within a follow-up time of 3 to 168 months. Long-term morbidity assessment included documentation of patients' subjective complaints, clinical examination of the donor site, and anthropometric measurements.

The relevant morbidity factors in the early postoperative period were hematoma formation (6.7 percent) and sensory impairment (3.3 percent). In long-term follow-up, sensory impairment was the most frequent condition objectively assessed and subjectively complained of (12.9 percent). Overall, sensory impairment was confined to concha as the donor site. Anthropometric measurements showed a mean difference in the length of the affected ear compared with the contralateral ear of 1.8 mm, a width difference of 2.5 mm, a difference in tragus/lateral canthus distance of 1.4 mm, and a difference in protrusion angle of 2.4 degrees. Statistically significant differences between values obtained from operated and nonoperated ears could not be detected for every evaluated parameter using the paired t test. Aesthetically relevant complications were rare and their occurrence restricted to single cases.

Cartilage graft harvest from the auricle can be considered as a relatively safe procedure with a favorable aesthetic outcome.