We reviewed the recurrence rate and possible factors influencing recurrence of preauricular sinus after excision. Seventy-one patients with 73 preauricular sinuses seen at our centre from year 2000 to 2005 were reviewed in this study. The overall recurrence rate was 14.1%. Twelve sinuses needed to be drained for an abscess prior to a definitive surgery. Different modalities used in demonstrating the sinus tract between methylene blue alone and probing together with methylene blue, showed different outcomes, which were statistically significant with a p value of < 0.05(chi-square test). A preauricular sinus with a previous history of infection or actively infected during the definitive surgery may have a higher tendency of recurrence. Meanwhile demonstrating the sinus tract by probing with lacrimal probe/sinus probe followed by injection of methylene blue reduces the recurrence rate (p < 0.05 with chi-square test).
To date there is no optimal approach to reconstruct an external ear. However, advances in tissue engineering technologies have indicated that in vitro autologous elastic cartilage might be of great importance in the future treatment of these patients. The aim of this study was to observe monolayer expansion of auricular cartilage and to evaluate engineered cartilage using standard histochemical study.