Comparison of silicone rod versus prolene 4/0 suture in frontalis suspension surgery for simple congenital ptesis.

Objective: To compare the frequency of good functional outcome of frontalis suspension surgery using silicone rod versus prolene 4/0 suture in simple congenital ptosis. Study Design: Hospital Based Comparative Study. Setting: Department of Ophthalmology, Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar. Period: June to August 2018. Material & Methods: This study was performed on 70 randomly selected patients divided in two groups (A and B) having 35 patients in each group. Patients with poor levator function (≤5mm), moderate to severe ptosis and good Bell’s phenomenon of either gender having age range of 5-25 years were included in the study. Good functional outcome was considered as achieved when the marginal reflex distance is more than or equal to 1 mm, and was considered as not achieved when the marginal reflex distance is less than 1 mm on physical examination after 3 months of the procedure. Results: In Group A, mean age recorded was 12+6.31 while mean duration of procedure was 52+3.08. In Group B, mean age was 15+4.76 and mean duration of procedure was 55+1.82. A total of 88.5% and 62.85% patients achieved good functional outcome in Group A and B respectively. Stratification of good functional outcome with respect to age shows that good functional outcome is statistically significant in the age group of 16-25 years. Conclusion: In simple congenital ptosis, prolene 4/0 suture achieved good functional outcome and an excellent safety profile in comparison to frontalis suspension using silicon rod.