Everting Sutures for Entropion Repair: Recurrence Rate and Quality of Life Metrics.

Purpose: The study aimed to assess the efficacy and recurrence rate of everting sutures as a sole procedure in entropion repair, its impact on quality of life during the coronavirus disease pandemic, and to determine if this procedure remains an option to offer after the pandemic.

Design: Retrospective clinical cohort study.

Methods: Retrospective study of 58 patients who had everting sutures for entropion repair over a 1-year period. Patients who had everting sutures combined with another procedure were excluded from the study. The study evaluated the effectiveness of the procedure by examining eyelid positioning during follow-up, complication rate, and the 1-year recurrence rate. Patients were also contacted to describe their symptoms before and after surgery and to complete The European Quality of Life questionnaire.

Results: The mean age was 79 years and 68.9% were male. The immediate success rate was 95.3% with a complication rate of 1.5%. The 1-year recurrence rate was 23.4%. After surgical intervention, 95.1% of patients experienced symptom relief. An improvement in quality of life was reported in 76.2%, which was predominantly attributed to a reduction in eye pain or discomfort (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: Everting sutures are a quick and safe procedure that can be performed by any general ophthalmologist. This procedure is effective and improves the quality of life; however, it is associated with a higher recurrence rate compared with other entropion repair surgeries. Nonetheless, it remains an attractive option for older patients who want to avoid long and invasive procedures.