Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate postoperative meatal stenosis after surgery for congenital aural atresia using anteriorly and inferiorly based periosteal flaps (AIPFs). These were compared with the groups that did not use these flaps.
Study design: This was a retrospective clinical study.
Setting: The study was conducted at the tertiary referral hospital.
Patients: There were 133 patients (151 ears) who had undergone surgical correction for congenital aural atresia from November 1987 to March 1999.
Intervention: The anterior approach surgical method was used to correct the congenital aural atresia.
Main outcome measure: A comparison between the 2 groups, 1 using the AIPFs and the other that did not use the AIPFs, was performed to evaluate both the incidence and the interval of postoperative meatal stenosis. The correlation between the age of the first operation to correct congenital aural atresia and the incidence of postoperative meatal stenosis was also investigated.
Results: Meatal stenosis was the most common postoperative complication (23.8%) found. The incidence of meatal stenosis was much lower in the group using AIPFs (n = 105) than in the group that did not (n = 46) (19.0% versus 35.0%). The interval for the development of postoperative meatal stenosis showed similar distribution in both groups. In age distribution, the younger the age of the first operation, the more frequent the occurrence of postoperative meatal stenosis.
Conclusion: AIPF is an effective surgical method for reducing the incidence of postoperative meatal stenosis.