A 7-year-old child, referred to as "Jiejie", has undergone innovative surgery at the Department of Otolaryngology of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University. This surgery not only resolved the cosmetic issues related to malformed ear structures but also remarkably restored the child's hearing abilities.
Jiejie was born with incomplete ear structures, lacking fully formed auricles on both sides, and suffering from bilateral external auditory canal atresia, which led to impaired hearing and communication difficulties. Nine months ago, he underwent the first phase of ear reconstruction surgery on his left ear at this hospital, using his own rib cartilage to reconstruct the auricles.
(Photo provided to GDToday)
The recent Phase II surgery, performed by Professor Chen Suijun's team, was the first one in Guangdong where simultaneous ear reconstruction and auditory implantation were conducted at the same time. This innovative approach aimed to not only create natural-looking ears but also improve the child's hearing abilities using bone conduction implants.
During the surgery, Professor Chen Suijun implanted the BAHA Attract System under Jiejie's scalp, fixing it to the skull, alongside the reconstruction of the auricles.
"In the past, stage II auricle reconstruction surgery and hearing reconstruction were performed in separate operations. Now we have this integrated approach, which not only reduces anesthesia risks and treatment costs, but also effectively avoids the impact of different surgical fields during staged operations," Professor Chen said.
Jiejie returned for a follow-up visit one month after the operation. The wound had recovered well, pure tone audiometry, and speech resolution had improved significantly, and he was able to communicate normally. With recovery after surgery, his hearing will further improve.
Professor Chen pointed out that the BAHA Attract System is mainly suitable for the treatment of patients with conductive hearing loss, such as otosclerosis, aural atresia, and microtia, as well as mixed hearing loss and unilateral deafness. He said, "Each artificial hearing implant device has specific indications, pros, and cons. When selecting, you need to consider the patient's hearing, anatomical conditions, hearing needs, general condition, etc., and it's advised to select the most appropriate method after comprehensive consideration."
Author | Hannah
Editor | Steven, Monica, James
