Combined endoscopic medial and external lateral orbital decompression for progressive thyroid eye disease

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of endoscopic medial and lateral orbital wall surgery to 3-wall decompression in patients with thyroid eye disease. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: A retrospective study of patients with thyroid eye disease with severe proptosis, exposure keratitis, or compressive optic neuropathy was conducted. RESULTS: Mean reduction in proptosis was 4.37 mm in the 2-wall approach and 4.59 mm in the 3-wall group. Seventy-five percent of patients in the 2-wall group demonstrated improved visual acuity; 50% improved after 3-wall decompression. Vertical palpebral fissure height decreased by an average of 2.50 mm in the 2-wall group and by 2.03 mm in the 3-wall group. New onset diplopia was 11.8% and 12.5%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Improvement in the degree of proptosis, visual acuity, and palpebral fissure height was seen in the majority of our patients and compared favorably to our results with 3-wall orbital decompression. EBM rating: C-4