Has the use of the linear incision reduced skin complications in bone-anchored hearing aid implantation?

OBJECTIVE: To compare the skin-related complications of the traditional skin flap method with a linear incision method of implantation. METHOD: All cases of bone-anchored hearing aid surgery performed by a single surgeon (n = 117) were compared over two periods: 1999-2011, when the traditional method of skin flap and soft tissue removal was used (group 1; n = 86), and 2012-2013, when linear incision without soft tissue removal was used (group 2; n = 31). All patients were followed up for one year and complications were recorded for that period. RESULTS: There were 21 (24.4 per cent) skin-related complications in group 1 (skin overgrowth = 12, wound infection = 8 and numbness = 1) and 3 (9.7 per cent) complications in group 2 (wound infection = 3). Analysis using independent t-tests showed the results to be significant (p < 0.05; 95 per cent confidence interval = 0.0800-0.4473). CONCLUSION: The linear incision without soft tissue removal method for bone-anchored hearing aid implantation reduces skin complication rates.