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Fibrin glue significantly reduces bruising, bleeding in upper eyelid blepharoplasty
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SAN FRANCISCO — Patients undergoing upper eyelid blepharoplasty treated with fibrin glue after surgery experienced a significant reduction in bruising and bleeding-related complications, according to a speaker here.
“Fibrin glue can drastically reduce bruising following blepharoplasty and potentially reduce the risk of vision-threatening complications,” Alan Oester Jr., MD, FACS, told Healio/OSN at the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery meeting.
Researchers evaluated outcomes of patients undergoing upper eyelid blepharoplasty with and without the use of fibrin glue postoperatively. All procedures were performed by a single surgeon, and researchers used a scaled grading system ranging from no bruising, a score of 0, to severe ecchymosis or hematoma formation, a score of 10.
One hundred ninety-eight patients were enrolled in the control group of the study and 143 patients in the fibrin glue treatment group. The control group had an average time to follow-up of 12.6 days and a mean bruising score of 3.69 compared with an average time to follow-up of 9.6 days and a mean bruising score of 2.18 for the treatment group. The treatment group showed a 41% reduction in bruising compared with the control group, Oester said.
When narrowing the treatment group to more closely standardize the days to follow-up, the treatment group showed an even greater reduction in bruising compared with the control group. The treatment group had a bruising score of 2.18 at 9.6 days follow-up compared with the control group bruising score of 4.23 at 9.2 days follow-up, he said. This represented a 52% reduction in bruising with the use of fibrin glue. Additionally, eyes treated with fibrin glue experienced an 83% decrease in hematoma formation, he said.
“Statistically speaking, someone in this room has had a patient lose vision due to blepharoplasty. I found that unacceptable, so I think this is an important step to moving towards safer upper eyelid surgery,” Oester said. – by Robert Linnehan
Reference:
Oester A. Fibrin glue for the reduction of bruising in upper eyelid blepharoplasty. Presented at: American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery meeting; Oct. 10-11, 2019; San Francisco.
Disclosure: Oester reports no relevant financial disclosures.