Blepharo-canthal deformities in patients following craniofacial surgery

Functional problems and deformities of the eyes have become a major concern in the surgical treatment of ortital hypertelorism and craniofacial dysostosis, as experience with skeletal relocation for these disorders has been gained. Comprehensive preoperative and postoperative study and measurements of the bony orbits, the globes, the lids, the canthi, and the nose are necessary for the evaluation of present techniques and the design of alternative procedures. Some of the deformities of the blepharo-canthal complex are part of the congenital malformation. Other distortions, seen only postoperatively, are secondary to specific surgical maneuvers. Awareness of these primary and secondary factors has led to better soft tissue reconstruction at the time of the bony orbital translocations or the craniofacial disjunction. We describe the techniques which we have found especially useful in avoiding and correcting these postoperative blepharocanthal deformities.