Abstract
Purpose :
Diabetes is an increasingly prevalent comorbidity in patient’s presenting for eyelid surgery, impacting nearly ten percent of adults in the United States. It is well known that diabetic patients are at an increased risk of post operative complications, specifically increased risk of post operative infection and delayed wound healing, however there is a lack of evidence regarding specific complications after eyelid surgery.
Methods :
This was a retrospective analysis of all patients who underwent a blepharoplasty or external levator advancement between 2007-2019 from two oculoplastic surgeons at a Chicago based practice. Exclusion criteria eliminated all patients with any coexisting eyelid pathology, previous eyelid surgeries, and patients without an A1c drawn within 3 months of surgery. Seventy nine patients met this criteria and were selected for the study. Adjusted multivariable logistic regression models were used to assess the relationship between A1c value and post operative complications.
Results :
Seventy nine patients were identified, including forty seven with A1C <6.5%, twenty with A1C 6.5-8%, and 12 with an A1C greater than 8% who had undergone blepharoplasty and external levator advancement. Logistic regression analysis showed that there was no statistically significant difference in post surgical complications between groups p=0.40.
Conclusions :
Diabetes is commonly associated with a multitude of postoperative complications. This study suggests that eyelid procedures may not have the same association between A1c and delayed wound healing. The eyelids have high vascularity and that may protect against the typical poor surgical wound healing in diabetic patients.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.