Otoplasty (, , "ear" + , , "to shape") denotes the surgical and non-surgical procedures for correcting the deformities and defects of the pinna (external ear), and for reconstructing a defective, or deformed, or absent external ear, consequent to congenital conditions (e.g. microtia, anotia, etc.) and trauma (blunt, penetrating, or blast). The otoplastic surgeon corrects the defect or deformity by creating an external ear that is of natural proportions, contour, and appearance, usually achieved by the reshaping, the moving, and the augmenting of the cartilaginous support framework of the pinna. Moreover, the occurrence of congenital ear deformities occasionally overlaps with other medical conditions (e.g. Treacher Collins syndrome and hemifacial microsomia). History Antiquity Otoplasty (surgery of the ear) was developed in ancient India in the 5th century BC, and described in the medical compendium, the (Sushruta's Compendium, ). The book discussed otoplastic and other plastic surgery techniques and procedures for correcting, repairing and reconstructing ears, noses, lips, and genitalia that were amputated as criminal, religious, and military punishments. The ancient Indian medical knowledge and plastic surgery techniques of the were practiced throughout Asia until the late 18th century; the October 1794 issue of the contemporary British Gentleman's Magazine reported the practice of rhinoplasty, as described in the . Moreover, two centuries later, contemporary practices of otoplastic praxis were derived from the techniques and procedures developed and established in antiquity by Sushruta. 19th century In (Operational Surgery, 1845), Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach (1794–1847) reported the first surgical approach for the correction of prominent ears — a combination otoplasty procedure that featured the simple excision (cutting) of the problematic excess cartilage from the posterior sulcus (back groove) of the ear, and the subsequent affixing, with sutures, of the corrected pinna to the mastoid periosteum, the membrane covering the mastoid process at the underside of the mastoid portion of the temporal bone, at the back of the head. 20th and 21st centuries In 1920, Harold D. Gillies (1882–1960) first reproduced the pinna by burying an external-ear support framework, made of autologous rib cartilage, under the skin of the mastoid region of the head, which reconstructed the pinna; he then separated this from the skin of the mastoid area by means of a cervical flap. In 1937, Dr. Gillies also attempted a similar pediatric ear reconstruction with a pinna support framework fabricated from maternal cartilage. This otoplasty correction technique proved inadequate, due to the problems inherent