Involutional ectropion: etiological factors and therapeutic management

Purpose: Involutional Ectropion is commonly prevalent disorder of eyelid malposition caused by age-related degeneration of the periocular tissues. This study conducted to provide a summary and review of surgical practice for the management of lower eyelid involutional ectropion and enlist various causative factors that explain the pathogenesis.

Methods: The review of literature on risk factors and surgical approaches for involutional lower eyelid ectropion, searched on PubMed from 1980 onwards.

Result: Multiple factors contribute to horizontal and vertical lower eyelid involutional ectropion. Several surgical practices have been described over the last years to address these factors. Lateral tarsal strip is the most used and effective surgery to treat horizontal laxity.

Conclusion: Knowledge of various contributing factors and surgical procedures will enable to design the most effective therapeutic management for lower eyelid involutional ectropion. surgical approaches are individualized depending on preoperative clinical evaluation of possible causative factors and concerning the predominant location of the ectropion will result in a high success rate.