Endoscopic slide-in orbital wall reconstruction for isolated medial blowout fractures

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the efficacy of the endoscopic medial orbital wall repair by comparing it with the conventional transcaruncular method. This surgical approach differs from the established endoscopic technique in that we push the mesh inside the orbit rather than placing it over the defect. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed 40 patients with isolated medial orbital blowout fractures who underwent medial orbital wall reconstruction. Twenty-six patients underwent endoscopic repair, and 14 patients underwent external repair. All patients had preoperative computed tomography scans taken to determine the defect size. Pre- and postoperative exophthalmometry, operation time, the existence of diplopia, and pain were evaluated and compared between the two methods. We present a case showing our procedure. RESULTS: The operation time was significantly shorter in the endoscopic group (44.7 minutes vs. 73.9 minutes, <i>p</i>= 0.035). The preoperative defect size, enophthalmos correction rate, and pain did not significantly differ between the two groups. All patients with preoperative diplopia, eyeball movement limitation, or enophthalmos had their symptoms resolved, except for one patient who had preexisting strabismus. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that endoscopic medial orbital wall repair is not inferior to the transcaruncular method. The endoscopic approach seems to reduce the operation time, probably because the dissection process is shorter, and no wound repair is needed. Compared to the previous endoscopic method, our method is not complicated, and is more physiological. Larger scale studies should be performed for validation.