6^th Global Healthcare Nutritionists and Dietician annual Conference

Biography

Biography: Catherine S. Chang

Abstract

Despite reported success of early nonsurgical splinting of congenital ear deformities, the technique has not been widely utilized due to difficulty with application and positional maintenance of these devices. Delay in treatment can result in unnecessary surgery for the child later in life. We present a simplified system that can be applied in 3 steps. A presized Velcro strip designed to follow the curvature of the auricle is affixed to the scalp. Conformers with preattached Velcro are positioned along the helical rim as desired. The entire construct is sealed into place by application of polysiloxane gel. A total of 33 ear deformities were treated. Mean age at application was 31.2 days; mean duration of therapy 3.85 weeks. There were 0 cases of skin or cartilage damage. 92.3% of ears achieved significant improvement and normalization of their ears following therapy. Though ideal for treatment in infants less than 10 days old, in our series, over 90% of infants had good correction despite delayed treatment. This device allows for a more straightforward and individualized application than current products available. Our hope is that practitioners involved early in the infant’s care will utilize this technology resulting in improved outcomes and avoiding unnecessary surgery.