Surgery for multielectrode cochlear implants

Abstract

For the surgery of the NUCLEUS Cochlear Implant (CI) in general anaesthesia we use a skin cut beginning at the bottom of the entrance to the outer ear canal, following the posterior circumference to a point nearly 12 o'clock. From here the incision runs superiorly to the tragus until two or three centimetres above the pinna base and in a wide smooth circle in direction to the occiput. The wide circle is necessary to get a distance of about 2 cm away from the package and also to guarantee the blood supply by the occipital artery and by the postauricular artery as well.