Levator recession and minimal lateral tarsorrhaphy for the management of lagophthalmos and corneal exposure in facial palsy

Abstract

Purpose: Recession of levator muscle can potentially decrease the severity of corneal exposure by reducing margin-reflex distance 1. The purpose of this study is evaluation of effects of levator recession on lagophthalmos in facial palsy. Materials and methods: In a non-comparative case series of consecutive patients with exposure keratopathy due to facial paralysis between 2012 and 2017, levator recession was performed through lid crease incision. Small-size (⩽3 mm) lateral tarsorrhaphy was performed on a case-by-case basis for those with moderate-to-severe keratopathy. Preoperative and postoperative measurements of margin-reflex distance 1 and lagophthalmos were compared using paired t-test. Results: Thirty-four patients (14 men and 20 women) were enrolled with an average age of 52.3 years. Mean follow-up was 13.3 months (range, 6–36 months). The most common etiology of facial paralysis was Bell’s palsy (22 cases), followed by motor vehicle accident (8), parotid surgery (3), and brain tumor surgery (1). No additional procedure was performed for eight patients, while lateral tarsorrhaphy was performed in 26 cases. Mean margin-reflex distance 1 decreased from 5.0 ± 0.4 mm to 4.0 ± 0.5 mm ( p < 0.001) and mean lagophthalmos decreased from 3.3 ± 0.9 mm to 1.8 ± 0.9 mm ( p < 0.001). Subgroups of patients with additional lateral tarsorrhaphy and without tarsorrhaphy experienced the same amount of reduction in margin-reflex distance 1 and lagophthalmos. Conclusion: Recession of levator muscle was effective in reduction of margin-reflex distance 1 and lagophthalmos in facial palsy patients. This procedure can be added to the surgical armamentarium for management of patients with facial palsy and lagophthalmos.