Ear Surgery – Wrap Around Earlobe (WAE)
Figure 3a.
Figure 3b.
Figure 3c.
Figure 3d.
The WAE is an improvement over the classic second stage of the ear reconstruction. In the standard second stage, the vestigial remnant is rotated to make an earlobe by laying the tissues laterally to the inferior part of the ear, and then suturing the tissues to the inferior part of the developing ear (Figure 3a, 3b, and 3c).
This results in an earlobe that does not freely hang from the inferior part of the ear, but rather, is tacked on to the head for the most part (Figure 3d).
Dr. Jones goes two steps further to accomplish a naturally hanging earlobe instead of a tacked on one. First, in addition to rotating the vestigial remnant used to construct the earlobe, he makes a pocket in it. Second, he elevates the ear cartilage graft tip and inserts it into the pocket he made in the new earlobe (Figure 4).
In the end, the WAE technique allows the new tissues to become integrated with both the front and the back surfaces of the new earlobe, unlike when only the front surface and little of the back surface is covered with tissue.
Figure 4.
