Quality of life and patients' satisfaction after otoplasty

The objective of the study was to present the long-term results of satisfaction and quality of life of patients after otoplasty due to protuberant ears. A retrospective study at an academic tertiary referral centre is presented. A total of 164 patients were followed up after otoplasty due to ear dysplasia grade I. The validated questionnaires SF-36 and Patient Outcomes of Surgery-head/neck (POS) were applied to evaluate the quality of life and the patients' satisfaction after therapy. The comparison of preoperative and postoperative quality of life measured by POS showed significantly higher scores after surgery than before, independent of gender, age or experience of the surgeon. The patients' satisfaction with the surgical outcome showed high values in all subgroups. Except for "vitality", the SF-36 showed for all other items higher values of postoperative quality of life for patients after otoplasty than the German control population. With this study, we were able to demonstrate that health-related quality of life of patients is significantly increased by otoplasty. This finding is most pronounced in early childhood (children younger than 10 years of age), but independent of gender, experience of the surgeon or whether a revision or a primary case was treated. The method of performing otoplasty as described in this paper has been used in our institution for many years. It is adapted to the specific pathology and combines resection with suture techniques. To confirm and complement our results and increase the knowledge in this field of surgery, a prospective study is not only needed but currently performed.