A Systematic Review of Local Flaps Utilized for External Auditory Canal Defects

Study design: Systematic review of the literature.

Objective: The goal of this study is to review and summarize current literature on local flap reconstruction of external auditory canal (EAC) defects.

Methods: PubMed and Ovid databases were queried utilizing search term combinations of "external auditory canal," "defects," "flaps," "local," and "reconstruction." References in included articles were subject for review and inclusion. Articles published between 2013 and 2023 were included in the study.

Results: A total of 108 articles were screened after duplicates were excluded. Of the 108 articles, 3 were not written or translated to English, 10 were not accessible for review on either database, and 71 were not applicable to our subject of interest. The remaining 24 articles were included in the systematic review. Due to the primary descriptive nature of the surgical techniques and variability of data collection, a formal meta-analysis was not possible.

Conclusions: The EAC defect creates a difficult reconstructive dilemma. The armamentarium for repairing these defects can range from healing by secondary intention to free tissue transfer, however, local flap reconstruction proves to be a reliable and versatile option. This article reviews current local flap techniques for EAC defects and compares their advantages and disadvantages. Further, the authors provide a treatment algorithm and indications for choosing each flap in external auditory canal reconstruction.