Periorbital facial rejuvenation; applied anatomy and pre-operative assessment

PURPOSE: Since different subspecialties are currently performing a variety of upper facial rejuvenation procedures, and the level of knowledge on the ocular and periocular anatomy and physiology is different, this review aims to highlight the most important preoperative examinations and tests with special attention to the eye and periocular adnexal structures for general ophthalmologist and specialties other than oculo-facial surgeons in order to inform them about the fine and important points that should be considered before surgery to have both cosmetic and functional improvement. METHODS: English literature review was performed using PubMed with the different keywords of “periorbital rejuvenation”, “blepharoptosis”, “eyebrow ptosis”, “blepharoplasty”, “eyelid examination”, “facial assessment”, and “lifting”. Initial screening was performed by the senior author to include the most pertinent articles. The full text of the selected articles was reviewed, and some articles were added based upon the references of the initial articles. Included articles were then reviewed with special attention to the preoperative assessment of the periorbital facial rejuvenation procedures. RESULTS: There were 254 articles in the initial screening from which 84 articles were found to be mostly related to the topic of this review. The number finally increased to 112 articles after adding the pertinent references of the initial articles. CONCLUSION: Static and dynamic aging changes of the periorbital area should be assessed as an eyelid-eyebrow unit paying more attention to the anthropometric landmarks. Assessing the facial asymmetry, performing comprehensive and detailed ocular examination, and asking about patients' expectation are three key elements in this regard. Furthermore, taking standard facial pictures, obtaining special consent form, and finally getting feedback are also indispensable tools toward a better outcome.