Oculoplastic and Orbital Surgery Tests and Procedures

Dealing with complex eye conditions can feel overwhelming. Patients often experience difficulty in getting a proper diagnosis, resulting in continued suffering in their search to find the right specialist. At The Institute, we understand the challenges that many patients face. Our expert physicians have years of experience in diagnosing and treating various ocular conditions, and we use this expertise to help patients find the best treatment route for them.

We use cutting-edge imaging and diagnostic tools to pinpoint the problem and use this information to develop a plan to move forward. Our multi-modal approach may include:

Consultation to review your medical history and symptoms
Physical examination of the eye
Laboratory tests
Imaging tests such as MRI or CT scan to visualize eye structures
Slit lamp exam to examine the cornea

We’re proud to be on the cutting edge of treatment for complex eye conditions, with various oculoplastic and orbital surgery procedures that restore function and aesthetics. Our doctors will take the time to understand your unique experience and tailor your treatment to your situation. Our surgical and nonsurgical treatment approaches include: 

Orbital Decompression Surgery
Orbital decompression surgery involves removing excess fat from the orbital cavity and expanding the orbital wall to alleviate pressure and congestion in and around the eye and provide an aesthetic appearance.

Orbital decompression surgery may involve fat removal alone, or it may include the removal of bone to expand the orbital vault. It often involves a combination of these techniques, depending on the severity and stage of the disease. We prefer the technique of transorbital decompression, which allows the surgeon to reduce the prominence of the eyes without removing the sinuses, with the added advantage of being performed through the natural eyelid crease and leaving no scar after surgery. This approach reduces the risk of double vision after surgery and increases the power of the surgery.

Our surgeons often combine the surgery with fat removal or sculpting to address areas of fatty enlargement in the brows, cheeks, or eyelids, or additional cosmetic procedures such as eyelid lifting, eyebrow lifting, or facial fat injections — allowing us to deliver consistent, aesthetically pleasing results.

Orbital (Eye Socket) Surgery
Our surgeons perform surgical procedures on the eye socket (orbit) to repair bone fractures or eye muscle issues causing eyeball displacement as well as tumors, infections, and cysts of the orbital tissue.

The intricate nature of the eye socket and vision system requires highly specialized surgical skills and expertise to preserve ocular function and aesthetics. Orbital surgery can relieve various conditions, including fractures, tumor removal, tissue repair, infections, and more. Our surgeons utilize the most advanced techniques and approaches, choosing the method best suited for each patient. They include:

• ​Transconjunctival - Through the interior of the eyelid
• Transcutaneous - Closed approach through eyelid skin
• Subciliary - Subtle incision under the lashes
• Midface degloving - Lifting soft facial tissues off midface bones

Eye Reconstruction
We offer advanced eye reconstruction procedures to repair or rebuild structures of the eye, such as the eyelid, tear ducts, or other tissues, restoring appearance and function after injury, trauma, tumors, congenital defects, and more. Common eye reconstruction procedures include:

• Eyelid Reconstruction: Reconstructing missing eyelid tissue utilizing skin/muscle grafts and flaps for corneal protection and normalized blinking.
• Tear Drainage Repairs: Correcting damaged or obstructed nasolacrimal tear ducts causing excessive watery eyes using silicone tubes.
• Eye Socket Repair: Rebuilding fractured, infected, or malformed orbital bones and soft tissue with sutures, grafts, and implants.
• Eye Muscle Surgery: Repositioning detached or restricted extraocular eye muscles enables coordinated eye movement.
• Conjunctiva Reconstruction: Regenerating conjunctival membrane linings with mucous membrane grafts.
• Prosthetic Eye Placement: Custom-fitting intraocular prosthesis for rehabilitation post-enucleation.

Eyelid Surgery
Heavy, drooping upper eyelids or dark, puffy bags beneath the eyes can give an older, more tired appearance. With eyelid surgery or blepharoplasty, our surgeons can restore a more youthful, alert appearance and improve vision if sagging eyelids interfere with sight.

Blepharoplasty addresses drooping and sagging by removing excess tissue and restoring youthful contours to the eyelids through sculpting the upper and lower eyelids' skin, muscles, and fat. We often combine the procedure with ptosis surgery to lift the eyelids and make them more open and an eyebrow lift to address the crow's feet and the outer portion of the eyelids.

We tailor our approach for each individual patient’s unique situation, catering to your individual anatomy and goals. We provide:

• Upper blepharoplasty: Upper eyelid blepharoplasty focuses on reviving the upper eye region. Through subtle incisions hidden within the lid's natural folds, surgeons eliminate surplus skin, muscle, and fat to smooth away drooping issues like puffiness, hooding, and wrinkles. Patients gain significant aesthetic impacts through minor surgical tweaks along the upper eyelids.
• Lower blepharoplasty: Lower blepharoplasty employs a similar precise approach for the lower eyelids to reinvigorate this delicate area. Carefully concealed incisions allow surgeons to gently excise fat bulges, excess skin, and muscle ringing the underside of the eyes, reducing under-eye bags, darkness, sagging, and wrinkles in the lower lid zones.