Combined Subbrow Excision with Upper Blepharoplasty Using a Tadpole Shaped Excision for Blepharochalasis

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: In efforts to solve blepharochalasis, induced by aging process, various surgical methods have been developed over the years. Among them, classical upper blepharoplasty has a problem that severe lateral hooding may be restricted in making correction, cause of difference in thickness between the pretarsal skin and subbrow skin. And also subbrow excision (SE) blepharoplasty cannot be easily corrected in severe drooping of the medial skin. In an effort to make up for the disadvantages of these methods, we attempted SE-tadpole shaped excision blepharoplasty (TSEB). METHODS: Fifteen patients underwent SE-TSEB from January 2013 to November 2014. SE-TSEB was performed the following cases: 1) patients who showed moderate to severe blepharochasis with severe lateral wrinkles; 2) patients with a history of pre-existent SE blepharoplasty; 3) patients with a tattoo on the eyebrows, who want to make revision; and 4) patients with eyelid skins that are thick or have overly protuberant fat pads of the retro-orbicularis oculi fat (ROOF), and have a plan to extirpate them. RESULTS: During the follow-up observation period, most patients showed amicable correction of visibility difficulty and were aesthetically satisfied with the postoperative results with respect to correction of the lateral wrinkles. Scars formed in the subbrow incision line were within the scope of management. CONCLUSIONS: SE-TSEB is a treatment modality that overcomes the disadvantages and limitations of classical upper blepharoplasty and SE blepharoplasty. Furthermore, maximizing the advantage of each surgical approach is another innovative approach for correction of changes in the upper eyelid, induced by aging.