Reconstruction of the Tragus Using a Pedicled Chondrocutaneous Flap

There have been many reports of reconstruction of the tragus in microtia 1),4),5), but few reports of simple reconstruction of a defect of the tragus due to tumor resection or trauma. There have been several recent reports 2),7),9)on the use of chondrocutaneous flaps of the auricle as a result of a detailed study of its arterial supply by Park et al 6). According to these previous reports, the chondrocutaneous flaps were used as free vasculalized flaps to reconstruct the nose and the trachea. In this case, we employed a pedicled chondrocutaneous flap from the concha-helix for reconstruction of the tragus. CASE REPORT The present case was a 40-year-old woman whose left tragus had been excised 10 years earlier at another hospital because of a benign skin tumor (Fig.1). We were unable to obtain a pathologic diagnosis for this tumor. Because she had a hearing disturbance, the defect in her tragus made it difficult for her to wear a hearing aid. To reconstruct the tragus, a chondrocutaneous flap including the helix was designed on the anterior and posterior aspects of her left auricle.