Prosthesis motility with and without intraorbital implants in the anophthalmic socket

Ocular prosthesis motility was measured and compared in 15 patients with a primary baseball implant after enucleation of an eye, in 11 patients with a secondary baseball implant, in 12 patients with an Allen implant, and in 11 patients without any intraorbital implant. In all patients a noticeable lag of movement of the prosthetic eye was measured: in the extreme directions of gaze the excursions of the prosthesis were far less in comparison with the contralateral normal eye. For normal eye movement round the primary position of gaze, however, the prosthesis motility in the primary baseball and Allen implant group appeared to be sufficient to give a lifelike appearance. The average motility of the prostheses in these two groups did not differ. The motility in the secondary baseball group and in the group without an implant was evidently worse. In the last group the prosthesis motility was most impaired. We conclude that the insertion of an implant, even when inserted some time after the enucleation (a secondary implant), improves the motility of the prosthesis markedly. We recommend the primary baseball implant as the correction of choice after enucleation.