Microtia is a rare condition where a baby’s outer ear is underdeveloped or missing. At Children’s Hospital, our specialists offer advanced treatments that can reconstruct the ear’s shape and help improve your baby’s hearing.

Microtia is a rare congenital anomaly (birth defect) that tends to affect boys more than girls. Most often, only the right ear is affected, although some kids may have the condition on both sides. 

The leading-edge treatments offered by our pediatric specialists are designed to support your family as your baby develops. One of the latest options available at MU Health Care includes personalized ear reconstruction using your baby’s own cartilage.

Microtia Symptoms

Babies can be born with microtia because of genetics or other unknown causes. Your child may have microtia if their ear is:

  • Smaller than normal
  • Missing the outer portion
  • Completely absent (a condition known as anotia) 

Although microtia doesn’t cause your child any pain, it can affect their hearing. Without treatment, hearing loss can impact your child’s speech development and other functions. That’s why we recommend care by a team of specialists.

Getting Care for Pediatric Microtia

Our team can check your child’s hearing and offer treatment options for an underdeveloped or absent ear. Your pediatrician can refer you to our team, or you can reach out to our plastic surgery nurse directly.

Types of Microtia

Our team treats all types of microtia, which are “graded” based on severity: 

  • Grade 1: The ear has a normal shape but may be smaller than what’s typical.
  • Grade 2: Only part of the ear has a normal shape, and the ear canal may be closed (aural atresia).
  • Grade 3: The ear is just a small piece of skin and cartilage.
  • Grade 4: There is no ear. We can provide complex reconstructions for kids with grade 4 microtia as well as less severe forms of the condition.

Microtia Treatment at MU Health Care

At Children’s Hospital, our kid-focused care team includes pediatric specialists with different areas of expertise, including: 

Microtia Surgery

Our pediatric craniofacial surgeons are skilled in performing advanced ear reconstructions for pediatric microtia, including:

  • Implantable devices that a surgeon can place under the skin and “shape” to create a realistic-looking ear. This type of reconstruction can usually be completed with one or two surgeries.
  • Custom ear reconstruction using some of your child’s rib cartilage. This approach provides a better “match” if your child has an ear on the other side. However, the process takes longer and requires three to four procedures.

We can perform an ear reconstruction if your child is at least 6 years old. The first surgery to build the framework of your child’s ear is the most involved and requires a hospital stay. We can complete the remaining outpatient surgeries about a year after that procedure.

Instead of performing a reconstruction, we can also fit your child with a prosthetic ear. These prosthetics are attached with metal “pins” that we insert in the bone on the side of your child’s head. 

We also offer bone-anchored hearing aid (BAHA) surgery, which involves placing pins in the bone near to ears to attach a hearing aid.

Surgery for Hearing Loss

Many kids with microtia need support to help them with hearing loss. Our ear, nose and throat specialists can perform middle-ear surgery for your baby to improve their hearing. No other ENT team in the mid-Missouri has more experience treating kids with microtia.