Small incisions combined with interrupted suture blepharoplasty: Flexible-rigid fixation

Temporarily accepted

Background: Traditional full-incision blepharoplasty is the most commonly used in Asia. However, it has significant disadvantages such as long recovery period, excessive surgical scars, etc. We offer a new suture concept and combine it with interrupted suture blepharoplasty to improve these drawbacks. Methods: In our procedure, the orbital septum is opened and the levator denervation is separated – the complex of the retroorbital septum under this small incision of 3-5 mm, a flexible-rigid fixation would be done: fixation with tarsal sutures was done – complex- lower lip orbit ophthalmic muscle. We stopped by burying the sutures in the uncut skin between the two small incisions. Results: This work included 333 patients divided into small incision groups using flexible-rigid fixation (n=244, 73.3%) and full incision groups using rigid fixation (n=89, 26.7%). At both the 6-month and 5-year postoperative follow-ups, the satisfaction of the small-incision group was statistically higher than that of the full-incision group. The overall rate of postoperative complications was statistically significantly lower in the small incision. Permanence was not statistically different. For Postoperative Effort Score (PES) results, at 6 months postoperatively, the mean score was 8.29 ± 1.32 in the small incision group, 7.86 ± 1.54 in the full incision group. At 5 years postoperatively, the mean score was 7.48 ± 1.45 in the small incision group, 7.51 ± 1.73 in the complete incision group. None were statistically different. Conclusion: The small incision group achieves a higher level of patient satisfaction and milder trauma to the surgical site, has a low complication rate and a decent degree of durability.