From Sept 1989 to Dec 1993, the auricular composite graft carrying a piece of postauriclar skin with subdermal vascular network was used to repair 7 cases having defects of nasal alar or tip and 1 having microtia. The width of the composite grafts ranged from 1.8cm to 2.6cm, and the size of the postauricular skin rangedfrom 0.08×1cm2 to 2.2×2.5cm2. All cases gained successful results. The mechanism of survival of the composite grafts, and the essential points in operation were detailed.
