Sandwich compression with rubbery tourniquet sheets and cotton balls for auricular pseudocyst

Pseudocyst of the auricle is a benign, noninflammatory cystic disease that is more common in Asians than in Caucasians. When managed conservatively, the results are often unsatisfactory and recurrences are common. We aimed to introduce a novel modified surgical method that involves a deroofing technique followed by a sandwich compression suture using two rubber tourniquet sheets and an iodine-soaked cotton ball for the treatment of auricular pseudocysts and to ascertain its effectiveness.

Case series with or without comparison.

The charts of 100 patients with auricular pseudocysts who were treated with this new method from 2004 to 2016 in a university-affiliated tertiary teaching hospital were retrospectively reviewed and analyzed.

The mean patient age was 37.7 years, and 84% were male. All of the patients had unilateral lesions, with right-side lesions (53.0%) being slightly predominant. The cymba concha (44.1%) was the most common site. Seven patients (7.0%) had trauma to the ear within 3 months before presentation. Previous aspiration or drainage had been performed for the cysts in 35 patients (35.0%), and the recurrences had been treated conservatively. In comparison, 98 of the 100 patients recovered smoothly from surgery without further recurrence or complications after follow-up for at least 1 year.

Based on our experience, not only does this surgical procedure yield reliable results in the treatment of pseudocysts of auricles, but it also has advantages such as using readily available materials, being simple to perform, improving efficacy, and lowering recurrence rates.

4. Laryngoscope, 128:1653-1657, 2018.