Meshed periorbital skin grafts prove viable and offer good cosmesis

PHILADELPHIA — Meshed full-thickness skin grafts in the periorbital region proved comparable to unmeshed grafts, according to a clinician.

Linda H. Ohsie

"They can be used to reconstruct large defects ... as long as there is a well-vascularized bed," Linda H. Ohsie, MD, said here at the Wills Eye Institute Alumni Conference.

The retrospective chart review included 78 patients with a mean age of 71 years. Average follow-up was 217 days. Primary indications for grafting were basal cell carcinoma and cicatricial ectropion.

Fifty-four percent of the grafts were not meshed, and 33% were meshed. The remaining grafts were pie-crusted or scored, or preparations were unknown.

The most common graft sites were bilateral lower eyelids.

Results showed that 23.8% of unmeshed grafts had at least one complication; 34.6% of mesh grafts had one or more complications. However, meshed and unmeshed grafts were deemed viable at final follow-up, and no graft of either type failed.

Meshed grafts yielded functional and cosmetic results comparable, if not superior, to those of unmeshed grafts, Dr. Ohsie said.