Surgical management of squamous cell carcinoma of the lid

A series of 12 patients with eyelid squamous cell carcinoma was studied retrospectively with emphasis on the clinical presentation, management, and results. Of the five cases that constituted our personal experience, surgical excision with frozen-section control was an efficacious mode of treatment. In the overall series, there were no cases of regional lymph node metastasis and no tumor deaths. One patient required orbital exenteration. The methods of surgical extirpation of the tumor with frozen-section control, as advocated by the authors, are similar to those used in the management of basal cell carcinoma and other eyelid neoplasms. Because of the potential lethality of squamous cell carcinoma, a wider excision than that usually performed for basal cell carcinoma is recommended, as is close postoperative follow-up.