Intraorbital volume augmentation with patient-specific titanium spacers.

INTRODUCTION

Estimating the needed overcorrection of the globe position depends mainly on the clinical evaluation during an operation to correct hypo- and enophthalmos in primary and secondary orbital reconstruction for which several autogenous and alloplastic materials can be used. However, donor-side morbidity and time loss in obtaining autogenous materials are problematic. We developed a novel technique using titanium spacers that minimizes these factors.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective study of all patients treated with titanium spacers for orbital reconstruction at our department between 2014 and 2018. The primary predictor variable was a change in the deformity. The outcome variable was visual appearance, measured on a scale from 0 to 3. Other study variables included binocular vision and complications. Descriptive statistics and the Mann-Whitney rank sum test were used to check for statistical significances. The P-value was set at 0.05.

RESULTS

The study sample was composed of 29 patients. Postoperative results were comparable to the results of other methods described in the literature with approximately 25% of our patients experiencing residual visual deformity. The overall visual deformity decreased in our study, and visual appearance improved significantly (P<0.001). Complication rates were also comparable to those reported by other investigators.

CONCLUSION

Our method is an effective and safe procedure for correcting hypo- and enophthalmos while minimizing donor-side morbidity and treatment time.