Outcomes of secondary autologus dermo-fat orbital implants in anophthalmic sockets

Objectives: To evaluate the outcomes of secondary autologous dermis-fat graft as an orbital implant in anophthalmic sockets.

Methods: In this prospective study, which was conducted at Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre, Karachi, between January 2015 and January 2020, we evaluated 12 patients between the ages of four and 60 years. Most of the adults were victims of trauma, whereas children were known cases of retinoblastoma or trauma and all underwent enucleation. All of them were primarily treated elsewhere and not offered primary orbital implants. We performed autologous dermis-fat graft as an orbital implant in these patients harvesting graft from gluteal region and followed them up to look for complications.

Results: Out of 12 patients two went into failure, while rest of the patients showed successful outcome. All patients underwent successful surgery. Initially, a silicon conformer was placed, which was later on replaced with artificial prosthetic eye.

Conclusion: Regardless of the small sample size, this procedure proved to be a safe and effective method for augmenting orbital volume in anophthalmic sockets in children and adults.