Lower Eyelid Reconstruction After Ablation of Skin Malignancies: How Far Can We Get in a Single-Stage Procedure?

Abstract

A retrospective analysis was conducted identifying patients with postexcisional defects after skin cancer occurring in the lower eyelid, reconstructed in 1 stage. Appropriate demographic, pathological, preoperative, and postoperative clinical data and photo documentation were collected and analyzed. After excluding patients with partial thickness defects (n=5), a total of 13 patients with lower eyelid full-thickness defects were studied, including 9 women and 4 men with mean age 66.5 years (age range 53-79 years). The most common malignancy was basal cell carcinoma (n = 11). In one of the patients 2 synchronous neoplasms were excised simultaneously from the same lower eyelid. The reconstruction was successfully performed in 1 stage in all the patients by recruiting the same eyelid tissue and/or temporal tissue. No additional surgery was needed at a minimal follow-up of 9 months. Local tissue flaps have proven to be a reliable option for a single-stage reconstruction of large full-thickness defects. Tenzel flap technique seems to be a reliable option for repair of defects as large as 60% of the total eyelid length.