[The combined esthetic and functional treatment of microtia]

In the treatment of unilateral microtia, most authors give precedence to external reconstruction, neglecting a middle ear surgery. On the other hand, in bilateral microtia more importance is given to the functional component which has to be dealt with before a child begins his school career in order to facilitate optimal harmonious psychophysical development. One author in particular has been attempting to solve the problem in its entirety, for more than 20 years. In the last years, thanks to the close collaboration with otologists, results which confirm the existing hypothesis have been obtained. This was possible because plastic reconstruction was done before the functional procedure and also because of improvement in surgical techniques of the latter. Thus it appears that collaboration between both specialists is basically mandatory. Authors tend to aim for complete aesthetic and functional solution in bilateral microtia as well. However in these cases, external reconstruction has to performed before a child begins his school cancer.