Ahmad Nasrat Al-juboori
The auricular hematoma of the pinna occurs secondary to trauma and can present a therapeutic dilemma for ENT surgeon, and if untreated will ultimately result in a deformity commonly known as ‘cauliflower ear’. Various treatments are employed to relieve the hematoma but no clear consensus exists on the best way to do so in order to produce the best cosmetic result. The aim of this article was to evaluate the outcome and complications of the treatment of auricular hematoma with compression using X-ray films in comparison with traditional method of compression using pressure by bandage. This study had been performed upon 25 patients presented with auricular hematoma from different areas in Al-Anbar Governorate during the period from June 2005 to September 2011, treated in Al-Ramadi and Al-Fallujah General Hospitals by the same surgeon. The patients were divided into two groups. Group A constituted by 15 patients who underwent incision, drainage and compression by bandage. Group B constituted by 10 patients who underwent incision, drainage and compression by X-ray films. After seven days of compression, the bandage or the X-ray films were removed, and the state of the ear examined, if there was recurrence of the hematoma, re-drainage and compression was applied again. Follow up continued for the next six months for the possible future complications especially deformity of the pinna. The commonest cause behind hematoma was personal insult (40%). The recurrence happened in one third of the patients in group A, while the recurrence of auricular hematoma not happened in Group B of the patients. This means, there was statistical significance in comparison of both groups.
From this article we concluded that compression of auricular hematoma by X-ray films was easy in use and fashioning, convenient, cost effective and there was no recorded infection or recurrence.