装着型耳介矯正装置（EarWell Ⓡ）を用いた乳児耳介変形の矯正治療の経験

Experiences using EarWell Ⓡ for correcting ear deformities in infants

はじめに

　耳介変形に対しわれわれは従来，さまざまな材料を用いて症例ごとに作成した矯正具による矯正治療を行ってきた 1）。しかし，これらの方法は矯正力，安全性などにおいて一長一短で，治療者によって選択する手段はさまざまである 2）。今回，われわれは非外科的装着型乳幼児用耳介矯正装置であるEarWell Ⓡ infant ear correction system（以下，EarWell Ⓡ，Becon Medical社）を用いてさまざまな耳介変形を矯正し，結果をスコア化して評価し，その有効性と安全性について考察したので報告する。

　There remains no uniformly established method for correcting ear deformities. EarWell Ⓡ is a new, non-surgical ear correction device for infants that has recently been introduced at several facilities in Japan. In this study, we used the EarWell Ⓡ molding technique to correct various ear deformities in infants and retrospectively examined the complications and correction outcomes. No serious adverse events were recorded, and near-normal ear shape was achieved in some patients. In all cases, we observed a corrective effect of the EarWell Ⓡ system. It should be noted that the number of patients followed after correction was limited, and we were unable to perform statistical comparisons between the effects of conventional ear correcting methods and EarWell Ⓡ. Further accumulation of cases and detailed analysis of treatment effects will help validate the efficacy of EarWell Ⓡ.