Case Report Pressure appliance to prevent the recurrence of auricular seroma: A new clinical trial Anupam Purwar a, *, Vibha Shetty b , Shally Khanna c , Shalni Gupta d a Dept of Prosthodontics, Purvanchal Institute of Dental Sciences, Gorakhpur 273209, Uttar Pradesh, India b Dept of Prosthodontics, M.S. Ramaiah Dental College and Hospital, Bangalore 560044, Karnataka, India c Dept of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, Purvanchal Institute of Dental Sciences, Gorakhpur 273209, Uttar Pradesh, India d Dept of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dental Sciences, King George’s Medical University, Lucknow 226001, Uttar Pradesh, India article info Article history: Received 1 September 2012 Accepted 12 November 2012 Keywords: Pressure appliance Auricular seroma Drainage abstract Statement of problem: Auricular swellings significantly affect the facial aesthetics. Swelling affecting the pinna can lead to overt disfigurement and change the entire appeal of the face. Gross deformity can occur because of a delay in diagnosis and mismanagement. In our clinical trial fabrication of a simple, effective innovative pressure appliance for auric- ular seroma is presented to prevent such changes. Method: Our case report comprises of a new clinical trial on a patient with auricular seroma referred from the department of ENT, M.S. Ramaiah medical hospital, Bangalore, Karna- taka. A 19-gauge stainless steel wire (Leo wire, Leone, Italy) and chemically cure resin was used to fabricate the pressure appliance to prevent the recurrence of auricular seroma. Result: Patient was successfully treated with the help of pressure appliance after 8 weeks of follow up. Conclusion: This appliance is a masked alternative to conventional pressure dressing after drainage of auricular seroma which does not pose embarrassment for patient to apply. The use of such an appliance will ensure patient compliance, thereby preventing long term auricular deformity. Copyright ª 2012, Craniofacial Research Foundation. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Facial esthetics is the composite result of normal individual facial structures, the pinna being one of them. Lesions affecting the pinna can lead to overt disfigurement and change the entire appeal of the face. Pseudocyst or seroma is an uncommon asymptomatic, non-inflammatory swelling of the pinna, characterized by endochondral cyst formation. 1 Repeated minor trauma has long been suspected to have some part in the pathogenesis of auricular pseudocyst. This includes sleeping on hard pillows, carrying large weights on the shoulder, 2 motorcycle helmets, and wearing stereo headphones. As the etiology is obscure, various treatments are followed such as needle aspiration, curettage following incision and drainage and subsequent contour pressure dressing, deroofing procedure or insertion of a small drainage tube into the pseudocyst with a guide needle. 2 However, pressures dressing based on traditional methods are large and incumbent for the patient. We present a clinical trial of auricular seroma managed with an innovative double helical * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ91 (0) 9695538497; fax: þ91 (0) 551 2207590. E-mail address: apurwar77@gmail.com (A. Purwar). Available online at www.sciencedirect.com journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jobcr journal of oral biology and craniofacial research 3 (2013) 42 e44 2212-4268/$ e see front matter Copyright ª 2012, Craniofacial Research Foundation. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jobcr.2012.11.003