Uncommon Presentation of a Preauricular Sinus

Georgia Alexandra Spyropoulou, Alexander Dionyssopoulos, Dimitrios Oikonomou, Guy Sterne

Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, City Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Department of Plastic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.

DOI: 10.4236/mps.2012.23016                

Abstract

The preauricular sinus is a common finding in the pediatric population. An unusual case of a preauricular sinus that had as only manifestations recurrent postauricular abscesses is presented. A 13 year-old boy presented to the outpatients department with an infected cystic lesion and a hypertrophic scar below the left earlobe. He was operated 7 times in the past by different surgeons; however the postauricular abscess always recurred. Thorough clinical examination revealed a preauricular pit. The combined excision of the preauricular sinus and the remnants of the postauricular cyst resolved the problem and the patient has been asymptomatic ever since during a two years follow-up. Recurrent postauricular infected cysts may, albeit uncommonly, indicate an aberrant preauricular sinus, and the clinician needs to be aware of this possibility.

Keywords

Sinus; Preauricular; Cyst; Abcess

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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