Simplified technique without skin flap for the bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) implant

Aim of this report is to present a new surgical technique for the BAHA system implant and to discuss the operational techniques and complications related to this type of surgery. The common technique for the positioning of the Bone-Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA, Cochlear Limited, Englewood, CO, USA) titanium implant into the temporal bone is based on the use of either a free or a pedunculated skin flap. Reported complications of this type of surgery include skin flap necrosis with healing by second intention, infection of the flap, skin growth over the abutment, failure of osseointegration and implant extrusion. In order to reduce the incidence of these problems, different types of surgery have already been presented over the years. Herewith, a new technique is proposed for implanting a BAHA screw in the temporal bone, that is simple, rapid to perform, and does not require the use of a flap. This technique appears to offer two main advantages: i) the speeding up of the procedure; ii) the low risk of complications, such as infection and necrosis, within the skin surrounding the implant.