Safety of Concurrent Endoscopic Browlift and Blepharoplasty.

Abstract

The objective of the study was to evaluate the clinical safety of endoscopic browlift alone or in combination with blepharoplasty as a treatment for the aging face. This is a retrospective comparative study from 2007 to 2016 at a single tertiary care center. A consecutive sample of patients undergoing surgery for aging of the upper face was included in the study. Surgeries deemed to be inclusive were endoscopic browlift, upper blepharoplasty, and lower blepharoplasty. In total, 46 patients undergoing endoscopic browlift with concurrent blepharoplasty were included. Patient demographics, past medical history, follow-up, and any complications related to their surgery were studied up to 90 months postoperatively. Combination of endoscopic browlift with blepharoplasty did not increase the risk of complications on univariate analysis (p = 0.735). There were no differences in complication rates on univariate analysis of patients with a smoking history, diabetes, or autoimmune disease (p = 0.111, p = 0.575, p > 0.999, respectively). Furthermore, there was no difference between groups in complication rates, smoking history, diabetes, or autoimmune disease (p = 0.735, p = 0.181, p = 0.310, p = 0.218, respectively). Smoking had an insignificant increased risk of complication as compared with nonsmokers on multivariate analysis (odds ratio [OR] = 4.526; p = 0.073). Increasing age was slightly associated with fewer complications on multivariate analysis in this patient cohort (OR = 0.939; p = 0.048). By combining endoscopic browlift with a concomitant blepharoplasty, the goals of the patient and the standards of the surgeon can be effectively and safely achieved. Analysis of complications from 46 combined cases at our institution asserts that this is a safe operation. Smoking status was the only observed predictor for postoperative complications. This was a level of evidence 3, retrospective comparative study.