Surgical repair of congenital aural atresia

Abstract

Despite the ease, efficacy, predictability, and widespread availability of osseointegrated bone conduction hearing devices, surgical repair of congenital aural atresia (CAA) remains a viable and rewarding operation for patients, parents, and surgeons. Careful selection of patients using appropriate audiometry, detailed radiographic interpretation, and assessment of family understanding and child cooperability are the first steps toward a successful outcome. Intimate knowledge of outer, middle, and inner ear anatomy—both in the normally and abnormally developed ear—coupled with meticulous technique at each stage of the operation can yield outstanding hearing results with a clean, skin-lined, dry, patent ear canal. This chapter reviews the preoperative evaluation and steps of the atresia repair operation, including postoperative management, and provides both predictive and published data on hearing outcomes.