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 at the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery meeting.

“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, in a media release from Healio.

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 says.

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 says. 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 says, the release explains.

“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.

[Source: Healio]