Flattening of the orbital lower eyelid fat as a long-term outcome after surgical treatment of orbital floor fractures

Publication date: Available online 16 August 2019Source: British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial SurgeryAuthor(s): A. Sanjuan-Sanjuan, S. Heredero-Jung, M. Ogledzki, R. Arévalo-Arévalo, A. Dean-FerrerAbstractOur aim was to report the incidence of asymmetry of the lower eyelid (that manifests itself as flattening of the eyelid fat) as a long-term complication of the surgical approach of unilateral fractures of the orbital floor. We retrospectively reviewed the aesthetic appearance of the lower eyelid in 43 patients after repair of such fractures. Long-term asymmetry seen as asymmetrical flattening of the eyelid fat was evaluated and graded qualitatively as mild, moderate, and severe. We studied its relations to the surgical approach, patient’s age and sex, and postoperative time; 20 of the 43 had flattening of the lower eyelid fat. There were significantly more patients with flattening of the fat after transconjunctival approach than after transcutaneous ones (p = 0.03). We found a statistical likelihood of the development of flattening of the fat when patients were between 40 and 60 years old at the time of operation (p = 0.006). Increasing age at the time of the study was related to increased severity (p = 0.0019), with the greatest significance over 55 years old (p = 0.006). We found no relation to patient´s sex, or duration of operation. To our knowledge this is the first time that flattening of the eyelid fat has been describ...
Source: British Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery - Category: ENT & OMF Source Type: research