www.ears-forum.com

[Rudolf]

Can you get cauliflower ears after an operation with the stitch method?

[Dr. Merck]

Dear Rudolf,

With the Dr. Merck stitch method I developed, it is virtually impossible to get a cauliflower ear (also called boxer's ear) because the cartilage is neither freed nor reworked during this operation. The rumours about cauliflower ears after the stitch method were brought about by an interview of Dr. Mang with the Bild Zeitung (yellow press). With this, he proved he does not know my method at all and he confused it with other methods that are also (wrongly) called "stitch method".

Professor Weerda, late director of the university ENT clinic in Lübeck, who is also editor of the book "Surgery of the auricle", said about this: "The complication known as cauliflower ears can under no circumstances be a result of the non-invasive otoplasty method by Merck. This assertion is medical nonsense. The so-called cauliflower ears are only known with wrestlers, boxers, after accidents or burns."

In rare occasions there have also been cauliflower ears after traditional otoplasty operations, if there was heavy infection after working the cartilage.

Best regards,

Priv.Doz.Dr.med.W.Merck

[Fred]

Dear Dr. Merck.

I've read the artikel in the Bild Zeitung (yellow press). Professor Mang also claimed that the stitches of the stitch method often inflame. In many cases the result is unsatisfactory, he said. How about that?

Best regards,
Fred

[Dr. Merck]

Dear Fred,

This claim by Professor Mang, too, is absolutely false. For the "Dr. Merck stitch method" with which I not only operated Daniel Küblböck's ears but also the ears of 5,000 other patients successfully, there are a lot less stitch complications as for the traditional methods which Professor Mang defends, a fact that is beyond comprehension to me. These traditional methods also use non-dissolvable threads.

The high tolerance of the threads I use is due to the fact that I use prolene threads that are highly compatible with tissue, that are therefore used in vascular surgery, and that stay in the body forever. Prolene is also used as a net to seal a fraction in a hernia operation; this net is set into the tissue forever.

Contrary to Professor Mang's assertion, I have never observed a tissue intolerance with the thread I used in my over 5,000 operations.
In very rare exceptions it is unavoidable that these threads move to the surface of the skin if the skin is very thin. Only if these threads are not removed is there danger of inflammation. This removal is quick and painless. There is no need for an operation to do this, there are no remaining, visible changes to the ear and the inflammation, if at all there, will subside very quickly. If the ear were to protrude again after the removal of the thread, a new one would be placed in the same session and the patient would have his favoured position of his ears back.

It is not true that there are often bad results with the stitch method. On the contrary: Without exception this method leads to always beautiful, natural looking ears that do not show any signs of operation in contrast to the ears after the traditional operation, especially no scars, edges or deformations. Professor Mang has confused the "Dr. Merck's stitch method" developed by me with other methods that by now unfortunately are also called stitch method. In a phone call he apologised and said he did not know that Daniel Küblböck had been operated by me.

I introduced the term "stitch method" in 1996 in the technical literature and I hoped to clearly separate my method from all the other methods for otoplasty. Unfortunately, surgeons who did not hear my lectures and did not ask me what I actually do thought the term stitch method refers to old methods after Mustardé or its variants. This method however has got nothing to do with mine and it has not become accepted because it is not suitable for all ears and very often the ears protrude again afterwards, especially if the cartilage is thick.

Unjustifiably, the doctors Benedict and Pirwitz promote their method for otoplasty with the term stitch method on the internet although they include small cuts of the skin, removal of skin and scratching of cartilage ? quite different than the Dr. Merck stitch method.


Best regards,
Priv.Doz.Dr.med.W. Merck