Clinical efficacy of "flexible suspension technique" in double-eyelid blepharoplasty / 中华医学美学美容杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective The mechanism of traditional double-eyelid blepharoplasty is adhering skin to tarsus,by which the skin below the incision could be elevated along with the tarsus and produce the crease.But the anatomic basis of native double-eyelids is not the same,which depends on the connection of levator aponeuroses with muscle and skin.That is,the elevations of tarsus and skin is based on the different branches of levator aponeuroses to skin.According to this,the authors have developed a modified blepharoplasty suturing levator aponeuroses to the obicularis occuli muscle to mimic the native double eyelid.Methods The surgical procedures were modified from traditional surgery.The major improvements were:keeping obicularis occuli muscles intact,dissecting the levator aponeuroses and suturing them together.Since the suturing was performed between mobilized tissues of muscle and aponeurosis,the method was named as "flexible suspension technique".Five-hundred patients were performed with this method.Forty cases randomly selected from them were compared with 40 cases performed with traditional method,and the results were investigated using questionnaire survey.Results The results of the modified surgery were more natural than traditional technique.Majority of patients were satisfactory,whereas 15 cases (3％) had asymmetry,narrowing and even fold loss.All these 15 cases were puffy eyelids.Statistical results indicated that the satisfaction rate was significantly high (P =0.003),and the adverse effects (edema,bruise and scar) were significantly lighter than traditional technique;whereas the asymmetry and fold loss were higher than traditional technique.Conclusions The flexible suspension technique of blepharoplasty can obtain more natural double eyelid appearance,and is suitable for primary blepharoplasty but not applicable for severe puffy eyelids.