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Long-Term Results of Infant Ear Molding: A 10-Year Single-Surgeon Experience
Meagan Wu
*, Ashley E. Chang, Alana M. Platakus, Benjamin Massenburg, Dominic Romeo, Jinggang Ng, Jordan W. Swanson, Jesse A. Taylor, Scott Bartlett
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Introduction: This study assesses the long-term results of ear molding by integrating clinician and layperson evaluations at nearly seven years of follow-up.
Methods: We reviewed consecutive infants treated by a single surgeon with the InfantEar or EarWell device from 2012-2023. Photos before the first device application (time T0) and within six months of removal (time T1) were collected. Parents were contacted for satisfaction data and long-term photos (time T2). Severity of deformities at the three timepoints was determined by the senior surgeon and participants recruited on the Prolific crowdsourcing platform using a 4-point severity scale.
Results: Of 97 parents, 78 (80%) felt satisfied, 15 (16%) neutral, and 4 (4%) dissatisfied with the appearance of their child's treated ear(s). Predictors of satisfaction included absence of ear prominence (
p=0.018), use of InfantEar (
p=0.002), and longer follow-up (
p=0.047). Thirty patients with 47 deformities had photos taken at 0.2±2.8 years and 6.5±2.8 years after treatment, which were evaluated by one surgeon and 236 laypersons. Mean age at treatment was 3.0±1.7 weeks and duration was 5.3±1.8 weeks. From time T0 to T1, surgeon severity score decreased from 3.0±0.6 to 1.7±0.6 (
p<0.001), which further decreased to 1.4±0.7 at time T2 (
p=0.064). Surgeon score was lower at time T2 versus T0 (
p<0.001). From time T0 to T1, laypersons severity score decreased from 2.4±0.8 to 1.7±0.5 (
p<0.001), which further decreased to 1.4±0.5 at time T2 (
p=0.015). Laypersons score was lower at time T2 versus T0 (
p<0.001). Surgeon and layperson scores differed at time T0 (
p<0.001) but not after treatment (
p=0.960,
p=0.997). Longer follow-up predicted improved surgeon scores at time T2 (
p<0.001). Predictors of improved laypersons scores at time T2 included absence of ear prominence (
p<0.001), earlier treatment (
p=0.043), and longer follow-up (
p=0.005).
Conclusion: Ear molding achieves favorable and durable results. The appearance of deformities was significantly improved at nearly seven years after treatment and tended to correct with growth.
Comparison of Long-Term Results of 47 Treated Ear Deformities in 30 Patients.
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