Entropion

Entropion is when the eyelid turns in, causing the eyelashes to rub against the surface of the eye. This leads to eye irritation, redness, and decreased vision. As the eyelashes rub on the cornea, erosions or tiny scratches form on the surface of the cornea. If the erosions are left untreated, permanent scarring of the cornea and vision loss can occur.

Entropion can be repair by a number of different procedures, depending on its cause, which ranges from laxity of the eyelid and eyelid muscle from aging to conjunctival shortening from chronic inflammation and scaring of the conjunctiva. For laxity of eyelid and eyelid muscle, the eyelid may be tightened to the orbital rim with a suture through a small incision at the lateral canthus (the outside corner of the eye) and the muscle reattached to its insertion site with few sutures. If there is conjunctival scarring, an incision is made across the scar in the conjunctiva and multiple sutures are placed to relax and rotate the eyelid margin forward, respectively.

In cases where the conjunctiva is shortened from significant scarring, a mucosal graft is taken from the lining of the inner mouth and placed in the inner aspect of the eyelid to lengthen this surface. This is typically done in conjunction with other entropion repairs.