Repair of total and subtotal symblepharons

Large adhesions between a globe and an eyelid reform after surgical sectioning. Techniques to prevent reattachment have relied on mucosal grafts or plastic shields to prevent opposing raw surfaces from touching each other. A procedure is described using neither graft nor plastic shells which enables the traumatized surfaces to be opposed to uninjured mucosa until healing has been completed. This procedure makes use of techniques which are usually employed to repair other kinds of ophthalmic problems: after the symblepharon is dissected from the cornea, it is used to form the inner surface of the lid; Beta radiation is applied and bare sclera is not covered; the globe is then rotated with traction sutures and tethered to the lateral canthus until spontaneous epithelialization is achieved.