Implant extrusion in eviscerations

Wills Eye Hospital records for the ten-year period 1973-1983 were examined to compare the extrusion rate of implants from the scleral cavity after evisceration with the rate from Tenon's capsule after enucleation. Seventy-one consecutive extruding-implant surgical cases were examined; 60 (85%) occurred in sockets that had been previously enucleated and 11 (15%) in eviscerated eyes. In the same time period, there were 997 (95%) enucleations and 48 (5%) eviscerations. Fifteen percent of implant extrusions occurred in eviscerated sockets, for a 22% extrusion rate, compared with a 6% extrusion rate after enucleation. In this study, the frequency of extrusions was higher in eviscerations, although many variables, not taken into considerations here, might alter this ratio.