Otoplasty Using the Combined Mustardé-Furnas Technique: Satisfaction and Objective Results

BACKGROUND: To understand the level of satisfaction among patients undergoing otoplasty using the combined Mustarde-Furnas technique. To evaluate surgery outcomes using McDowell/Wright (MW) criteria. OBJECTIVES: The authors sought to analyze any possible correlation between satisfaction level and surgery outcome. METHODS: The authors conducted a retrospective study on patients who underwent combined Mustarde and Furnas otoplasty between 1996 and 2016. All patients were assessed 12 months after surgery employing MW goals and satisfaction surveys. RESULTS: The study includes 172 patients who underwent 343 otoplasty procedures. There were 134 patients (77.9%) who had all 6 of the criteria for surgical success as defined by MW 12 months after surgery, reporting satisfaction levels of 9 to 10. Fifteen patients (9.3%) had 5 of the 6 MW criteria, reporting satisfaction levels of 9 to 10, and 22 patients (12.79%) had only 4 MW objectives and reported satisfaction levels of 7 to 10. The Spearman rho coefficient was 0.545 and the Kendall coefficient was 0.375, with a statistically significant association (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Patient satisfaction increases as the number of MW goals are met, although the correlation is moderate to low. Patients perceive the results of the surgery as satisfactory or very satisfactory, even when ENT surgeons consider outcomes to be poor according to MW criteria.