Twenty Years of Anophthalmic Surgery in a Tertiary Referral Center: Etiologies, Surgical Trends, and Clinical Findings

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the etiological causes, demographic characteristics, surgical procedures, implant features, complications, and additional surgical interventions in patients undergoing anophthalmic surgery over a 20-year period. Methods: The records of patients who underwent evisceration, enucleation, sphere exchange, secondary sphere implantation, and anophthalmic socket reconstruction at our institution between 2003 and 2023 were reviewed. Etiologic and demographic data, surgical procedures, orbital implant diameter and material, postoperative complications, additional surgical procedures, and follow-up periods were recorded. Female patients were classified as group 1 and male patients as group 2, and both groups were subjected to comparative analysis. Results: A total of 603 patients were divided into two groups: Group 1 (female, 32.2%) and Group 2 (male, 67.8%). The mean age at the time of surgery was comparable between the two groups (p=0.830). Trauma was the most common etiology, malignancy the least common. Evisceration was the most frequently performed procedure, and enucleation the least. The mean diameter of implanted spheres was significantly smaller in Group 1 (p=0.001). No significant difference in implant materials was observed (p=0.590). Conjunctival suture dehiscence and infection were the most common complications, showing similar profiles in both groups. Conclusion: Trauma was the leading cause in both groups, with evisceration as the most frequently performed procedure. These procedures addressed the underlying ocular pathologies and contributed to orbital volume restoration when indicated.