What Is Canthopexy?
Sagging of the eyelids can be brought on by a loss of muscle or skin tone due to age, trauma, or other causes. A canthopexy can help if one notices lower eyelid bags and finds oneself constantly applying makeup. A canthopexy procedure softens wrinkles, strengthens the lower eyelids, and improves the eyelid's ability to function. For the best outcomes, combine periorbital botulinum toxin type A injection and a fractionated CO2 laser. In addition to improving one's appearance, this surgery can help in
- Retracting the eyelids.
- Eversion of the eyelid edge.
- Ectropion, or droopy eyelids; paralytic lagophthalmos, or partial closure of the eyes; and entropion, or an inward twisting of the eyelid.
How to Prepare for the Surgery?
The doctor will check the patient's physical health and smoking habits. The procedure, dangers, and benefits will be discussed. The doctor conducts a thorough examination to determine whether a canthopexy is necessary. The doctor will use the distraction test to examine lower lid laxity. In this test, the physician grabs and tugs the anterior eyelid. More than 0.24 to 0.31 inches of eyelid distraction indicates laxity. The doctor uses the snapback test, which involves tugging the lower lid towards the inferior orbital rim and releasing it to detect weak lid tone.
How Is the Surgery Performed?
The traditional blepharoplasty technique, whose main objective is stabilizing the lower eyelid, has been transformed into canthopexy. Canthopexy relieves lower eyelid tension and restores the contour of the eye. Canthopexy can preserve tissue by adding reinforcements to the existing tendon without rupturing it. Improved eye tension causes less fat to be removed, which stops the hollowing down of the lower eyelids. Canthopexy is frequently done with a minor surgical muscle tightening operation to lift sagging eyelid tissue, such as lower blepharoplasty. The cheek-eyelid border is also softer as a result of this combination. It can be used in conjunction with blepharoplasty or as a substitute.
When eyelid laxity is less severe or a patient has a small droop, canthopexy is favored over canthoplasty because it does not need to sever the muscle. The oculoplastic surgeon will provide general or local anesthesia with sedation in an outpatient setting. On the outside corner of the eyelid, the doctor makes an incision. The incision can be done via coronal type access, the upper or lower lid, or both. The orbicularis oculi muscle and canthal tendon are elevated, tightened, and stabilized with precise suture placement by the surgeon. The tendon does not need to be detached or rebuilt. Following lower eyelid surgery, canthopexy aids to support the outer eye corners and reduces the danger of eyelid malposition. The oculoplastic surgeon subsequently stitches up the incision.
What Are the Risks and Side Effects of the Surgery?
The hazards of canthopexy are uncommon because it is a common and safe surgical treatment. The adverse anesthetic reactions, typically transient, can include infection, inadequate wound healing, eye redness, bruising, or swelling. If the doctor tightens the lower lid too much, complications may occur. If this occurs, the lower lid margin takes the route of least resistance and travels downward rather than upward. Undercorrection by a surgeon should also be avoided because the eyes may continue to seem fatigued. After all, the lids can continue to contain excess skin, fat, and laxity.
What Are the Limitations of Canthopexy?
Choosing the right tightness will be one of the oculoplastic surgeon's most difficult tasks. If the plastic surgeon does not sufficiently tighten the eyelid, there can still be some laxity in the lower lid. When an eyelid is pressed too hard, it might develop entropion, which causes the eyelid to contract inward. The tension must be just right, neither too tight nor too loose, for the surgery to be successful. The lower lid can be made extremely tight if it has any elasticity. How loose the lid is, to begin with, and how well the tension is maintained at the end of the process will decide how much tightening is required.
What Is the Outcome of the Surgery?
After surgery, bruising, ocular redness, localized edema, and pain could remain for two weeks. The patient might use cold compresses and over-the-counter painkillers to ease any discomfort. Before going back to work, patients must rest at home for at least two days. To promote optimal healing, patients must refrain from any vigorous exercise. People should practice good skincare habits and protect their eyes from the sun to extend the quality of canthopexy outcomes. Canthopexy is non-invasive. Consequently, recuperation takes much less time than with other eyelid surgeries. Several weeks after the treatment, the lower lids look tighter and lifted as proof of full healing.
People need to recognize that canthopexy slows down the aging process, not halting it. The results of the procedure are, nevertheless, long-lasting, particularly if the patient leads a healthy lifestyle. By restoring the tone and young contour of the aging eyelid, canthopexy completely rejuvenates the eyes. The operation restores the integrity of the lower lid, after which the globe is raised once more. The eyelid angle is returned to where it was before. Skin removal is only taken into consideration when it is excessive. Years later, the patient might require a canthoplasty due to the tendon's continued aging in line with normal aging. Canthoplasty is a more intrusive technique that targets the lateral canthus and nearby supporting tissues to treat drooping and sagging lids.
Conclusion
The slack, sagging outermost part of the eye is tightened during canthopexy. This procedure can improve the tightness of the lower lid as well as the contour of the eye. The existing tendon is neither cut nor removed during this tissue-conserving surgery; it is strengthened using sutures. During the less invasive surgical treatment, sutures that tighten, repair, and support the lower eyelid must be placed with particular care.
