Eyelid Reconstruction/ Corrective Plastic Surgery
Defects in the eyelid may result from a variety of situations, most commonly after trauma or tumor excision, and specialized eyelid reconstruction is mandatory. Simple superficial defects in the eyelid may occur after minor trauma or removal of small growths. Many of these require nothing more than local wound care and will heal on their own in a week to 10 days. Some simple superficial defects may require a few sutures with the same local wound care.
After traumatic injuries or removal of larger growths or skin cancers, larger defects may extend through the entire lid. Many of these can be sutured together directly, but many others may require more complex reconstructions. In these more complex cases, the surgeon will need to use transfer of adjacent tissues (what we call “flaps”), or transfer of skin from other parts of the eyelid, face, or body (what we call “skin grafts”) to complete the reconstruction. Some of these more complex reconstructions may require more than one operation to complete (know as “staged reconstruction”). Another important group of patients who might need eyelid reconstruction are patients who had a surgical procedure performed elsewhere that did not realize their initial goals. Many patients come to Dr. Lin Yang for corrective plastic surgery or “Touch-ups.” This can be caused by a variety of factors such as: complications due to scarring, outdated procedures or just poor technique.
