Post-operative Scar Comparison With Supraorbital Eyebrow and Upper Blepharoplasty Approach in the Management of Zygomaticomaxillary Complex Fractures.

STUDY DESIGN: A prospective randomized comparative study was conducted to evaluate the postsurgical scar with Supraorbital Eyebrow (SE) Approach and Upper Blepharoplasty (UB) Approach used for open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) of zygomaticomaxillary complex (ZMC) fractures.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and compare the post-operative scar using Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) following ORIF of ZMC fractures with SE and UB approaches.

METHODS: In this study, 88 patients with ZMC fractures requiring ORIF and meeting the inclusion criteria were recruited between 2019 and 2020. Patients were randomly divided into SE and UB group, 44 patients in each. Clinical and radiological assessment was done preoperatively and post-operative scar evaluation was carried out at different intervals over a period of 6 months using VSS. A blinded observer rated the scar.

RESULTS: The results showed that after 6 months of surgery, all the 44 (100%) patients in UB group had a mild scar (VSS score 1-5), while in the SE group 34 (77.3%) patients had a mild scar (VSS score 1-5) and 10 (22.7%) had a moderate scar (VSS score 6-10). The difference between the 2 groups was statistically significant ( P -value = .001).

CONCLUSIONS: The UB approach has been established to be superior to SE approach in terms of post-operative scar as the results were statistically significant. This study can be used to advocate more frequent use of UB approach as compared to the previously popular SE approach for the management of ZMC fractures.