Best Hughes Flap Surgery in India

Eye reconstruction surgeries are critical and require specialized expertise because of the sensitive functioning of the eyes. Hughes flap surgery is one such procedure that is commonly used to reconstruct eyelid defects that are larger than half of the eyelid in size. The technique involves repairing the lower larger eyelid defects by sharing the skin of the thick eyelid.

A cosmetic surgeon specializing in the Hughes flap eye reconstruction procedure will take the skin flap from the upper eyelid to reconstruct the defects and wounds of the lower eyelid. This procedure requires various sessions as the reconstruction is done using an advancement flap of the skin muscle along with skin grafting on the lower eyelids.

What Is The Need For Hughes Flap Surgery?

Most eye defects occur out of trauma, injury, melanoma, tumor, or birth defects. These deformities or defects can cause complications and further risks in the normal functioning of the eyes. Furthermore, sometimes leading to vision loss in some patients as well. Our best cosmetic surgeon in India explains that eyelid defects such as tumor resection, injury, birth defects, etc can change with time, impacting the overall health of the vision.

Melanoma or skin cancers can cause tumors around the human body. These tumors resection on the eyelid can cause deformities or eyelids to droop or not function normally. Using reconstruction surgeries like Hughes flap can help patients to have a better aesthetic appearance and functioning of the eyelids. The Hughes flap is an amazingly effective procedure that uses eyelid sharing techniques to have better cosmetic visual and functional results in reconstruction surgery for the lower eyelid.

Diagnosis

Diagnosing a skin defect especially in eyelids requires thorough inspection with expertise in the field. The patient is required to visit a clinic nearby to get evaluated for defects in eyelids. Our best cosmetic surgeon at The Esthetic Clinics in Mumbai would evaluate the defect and its condition by measuring the defects and devising the best possible reconstruction treatment for the patient.

The diagnosis for eyelid defects typically involves CT scans or MRIs to assess the condition of the trauma. This is done based on the size and severity of the defect. A patient can make their consultation at The Esthetic Clinics in Mumbai to get a detailed diagnosis to get evaluated for other defects as well.

The patient’s evaluation is done based on the size and thickness of the eyelid defect. If the size of the defect is smaller than 50 percent of the size of the lower eyelid, patients are not suggested with Hughes flap surgery. The size of the defect is measured with the vertical height of the lesion to determine how much reconstruction tissue or skin grafting would be needed for the procedure.

What Is Eyelid Reconstruction?

Eyelid reconstruction is a surgical procedure to revive the defective wound site of the eyelids of a patient. These eyelid reconstruction surgeries are responsible for recreating functional eyelids to maintain the dynamic and protective movement of the eyelids. Reconstruction surgeries are in practice for ages but technical advancement and research on the subject are possible for more excellent results.

Eyelid reconstruction involves fixing the defects of the eyelid caused by excision of tumor, trauma, injury, or any birth defects. A top cosmetic surgeon experienced in the field uses their skills to achieve excellent aesthetic results by using skin grafts and local flaps. These are done with varying degrees of combination and further correcting procedures if required based on the particular case of the eyelids. Here are some of the benefits of eyelid reconstruction:

Improved anatomical balance is achieved by recreating the structural shape using surgical methods to reconstruct eyelids. The protruding inner skin of the eyelid or any other deformities can cause the eyelids to not function correctly, Hughes flap surgery can restore anatomic integrity of the eyelids. Functioning of the eyelid requires them to be mobile and keep the tear fluid function in check. Spreading tears to moisten the eyes and keeping the cornea safe and clean.

The appearance of eyelids matters significantly for a human as eyes form the face and the cosmetic aspect of the face requires both eyes to have symmetry. Best cosmetic surgeons are aware of the cosmetic consideration while performing Hughes flap procedures in India to keep the eyelid's shape in symmetry.

The Hughes Flap Surgery Procedure

Eyelid reconstruction is a complex process and requires careful series of surgical steps based on the anatomy of the eyelids and reconstruction principles. According to eyelid reconstruction principles eyelids are classified into two parts or lamellae, known as anterior for the eyelid with muscle and skin. The second is the posterior that consists of the mucosa. The skin over the eyelids is the thinnest and free from hair follicles. Therefore, the surgeon has to ensure the reconstruction is done using similar skin grafting.

Patients are given detailed briefing after their consultation following the eyelid defects diagnosis and related tests. Patient and doctor together decide on the course of action and be on terms with possible outcomes and expectations. Patients undergoing eyelid reconstruction should be aware of the various sessions and time periods required for healing between these sessions. Here are the steps taken in the procedure by an expert cosmetic surgeon in India:

• Our expert cosmetic surgeon would put the patient under an anaesthetic to prep and begin the eyelid reconstruction surgery.
• The surgeon will make a horizontal incision to create a flap on the upper eyelid by marking around 4mm away from the edge of the eyelid. This is done to keep the eyelid to maintain stability.
• The surgeon would place the flap onto the defect of the lower eyelid to create an advancement bridge flap by suturing the lower eyelid.
• Following the suturing of the bridge flap on the lower eyelid, a full-thickness graft of the skin is taken from the upper eyelid or local skin to fill in the defect site of the lower eyelid.
• Another approach to this is to create another anterior lamella by placing another skin flap. Patients with non-elastic tight skin are not recommended with a flap because of the risk of ectropion of the eyelids. Full-thickness skin grafts, like from the rear of the ears can help in such cases.
• Our best cosmetic surgeon at The Esthetic Clinics would then sew the edges of the skin in place to wait for the skin to heal for few weeks based on the severity of the defect and blood supply healing of an individual. There are several restrictions like avoiding smoking in this period for faster healing. The surgeon would take up to 6 weeks following the process to separate the flap.
• In the second stage, the flaps are separated by using a scalpel to create new margin lines on the lower eyelids of a patient. The excess skin will form the lining of the eyelid.

Aftercare & Recovery

Following the surgery, patients are given aftercare consultation and Hughes flap procedure recovery guidelines. Following are the various aftercare considerations; the doctors suggest the patient after the surgery:

• The eye of the patient is covered with protective padding using antibiotic medication or ointments. Patients are advised to keep the padding or the eye patch on as advised by the cosmetic surgeon.
• The patient is given antibiotics and oral medication to ease the pain and discomfort. The prescription medication would typically include painkillers and ointments including something for the stomach.
• The ointment is supposed to be applied at least twice once the protective eye patch is removed. However, in many cases, the bandage stays on until the separation stage of the reconstructive surgery.
• Our expert surgeon suggests that the patients should avoid rubbing or touching the wound to heal faster and avoid any discomfort.
• Head elevation and cold compress are known to help with bruising and swelling. Sometimes even relieving from the pain.
• Avoid smoking and putting the wound under any stress like facial massages, steam, sauna, etc.
• Keep the wound away from getting any water on it as the wound might get infected besides affecting sutures.
• Follow up as directed by your plastic surgeon at The Esthetic Clinics.

What To Expect From The Doctor?

Eyelid reconstruction surgeries require extensive knowledge and experience in the field of orbital contents. Therefore, every individual case of eyelid reconstruction can become challenging and complex. Our expert cosmetic surgeons in India are thoroughly in terms of the updated advanced techniques to reconstruct eyelid defects in the best way possible. Furthermore, The Esthetic Clinics in Mumbai, headed by Dr. Debraj Shome is known for using a combination of surgical and non-surgical approaches to achieve more aesthetic and improved functional aspects.

Reconstruction of the eyelid using Hughes flap is not a simple procedure and would take time to heal and complete. Best cosmetic reconstruction results require the best hands to treat the condition. Therefore, consult our clinics in Mumbai to get the best possible line of treatments for eyelid defects. Dr. Debraj Shome has done extensive eyelid reconstruction work including various advanced procedures to achieve extraordinary aesthetic results for the patients. Reconstruction of the eyelid requires evaluating the size of the defects and the condition of the skin of the eyelid to ascertain the possible treatment and healing time. When done by a top celebrity cosmetic surgeon, results are bound to be better than the best.