Purpose: Blepharoplasty is a procedure performed for both functional and aesthetic reasons. Blepharoplasty may change the relative position of the eyelid and cornea, thus mechanically altering the corneoscleral and conjunctival interface to aggravate the dry eye disease.
Patients and methods: Patients with dermatochalasis prepared for blepharoplasty were included in the study. Every participant was subjected to preoperative evaluation including demographic, medical, and past surgical history, and clinical examinations included slit lamp examination, fundus examination, IOP measurement and Anterior segment OCT to measure tear meniscus heigh. Tear film break up time and Schirmer test were done preoperatively and postoperatively to evaluate the tear film.
Results: This study included 40eyes of 20patients who underwent blepharoplasty with mean age 58.9±8.3years, number of females were 13(65%) and number of males were 7(35%). Preoperative TBUT was 15.12±1.67second which showed no significant difference with the postoperative values at 1week (16.35±3.76),1month (15.47±2.3) and at 3months (14.2±1.97) postoperatively. Schirmer test 1(with anesthesia) was 20.27±6.95mm preoperatively and showed mild but non-significant decrease during the follow up period reaching 17.9±1.65mm in 3rd month follow up. Also, Schirmer 2test showed non-significant decrease through the follow up period Preparative tear meniscus height was 0.51±0.5mm which decreased in the 1week postoperatively to 0.41±0.2mm, 0.39±0.19mm in 1st month and 0.32±0.22mm in 3rd month but these changes were not statistically significant
Conclusion: After blepharoplasty, the mechanics of tears stay the same. According to this study, the surface of the eye and the tear film were not significantly affected by the procedure.