Acquired atresia of the external auditory canal. Surgical treatment and results.

Atresia of the external ear canal following recurrent external otitis or surgery for chronic otitis media was treated in 17 ears with a canalplasty procedure using a retroauricular incision. The stenotic meatus was widened by removing fibrous tissue, and the tympanic membrane was deepithelialized. The posterior, superior, and inferior bony canal was widened until the first mastoid cells were encountered. The anterior canal was widened in cases where there was an anterior bony overhang. The bony canal was lined with split-thickness skin grafts. Meatoplasty was performed, and split-thickness skin grafts were grafted onto the margins of the meatoplasty to cover the lateral part of the ear canal. Preoperative and postoperative surgical results, including hearing levels, are presented and compared with those from the few other series from the literature.