Background: Many surgical techniques have been developed to correct blepharoptosis, including the anterior levator resection or advancement, tarsoaponeurectomy, and Fasanella-Servat Müllerectomy. However, to minimize surgical scarring and reduce the postoperative recovery time, the procedure has been developed from a complete incision to a partial incision, which is appealing to patients. To aid the procedural development, this study describes a surgical technique in which the correction of blepharoptosis and a double eyelid fold operation are performed using a buried suture technique during the same operation.
Methods: A retrospective review was conducted using the medical records and preoperative and postoperative photography of 121 patients who underwent simultaneous correction of blepharoptosis and had a double eyelid fold created between October 2010 and July 2011. All of the patients had mild (1-2 mm) or moderate (3-4 mm) bilateral blepharoptosis and excellent or good levator function (>8 mm).
Results: The average preoperative marginal reflex distance (MRD1) measured 1.174 (0.3) mm. No intraoperative complications occurred. The average postoperative MRD1 measured 3.968 (0.2) mm. There was statistical significance improvement between preoperative MRD1 and postoperative MRD1 (P<0.05). No symptomatic dry eye and exposure keratopathy were noted.
Conclusions: Blepharoptosis correction using the buried suture technique is an effective technique for young patients experiencing mild to moderate blepharoptosis who want to have the double eyelid fold operation using the buried suture technique.