External Ear Melanoma Treated with Auricular Reconstruction Using Four Different Tissues in a 16-Year-Old Patient

Abstract

Summary: The auricular region is a common site of cutaneous malignancies, most of which are nonmelanoma skin cancers, such as basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, in older patients. They are often treated with limited surgery that can be performed under local anesthesia. We report the case of a young patient with external ear melanoma who underwent reconstruction for defects of more than one-half of the helix and concha using four types of tissues: a rib cartilage graft, temporoparietal fascia flap, full-thickness skin graft, and retroauricular flap. Extending the retroauricular flap posteriorly to the entire hairless area allowed us to cover the anterior surface of the rib cartilage framework, which helped effectively achieve aesthetics. In auricle reconstruction, it is crucial to determine how well the anterior surface of the auricle is created.