Título

QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH GRAVES’ ORBITOPATHY SUBMITTED TO ORBITAL DECOMPRESSION: COMPARISON BETWEEN INFERIOR-MEDIAL AND BALANCED TECHNIQUES

Objetivo

To evaluate the surgical results of inferior-medial wall orbital decompression (IM-OD) and balanced medial plus lateral wall orbital decompression (ML-OD) in patients with Graves’ orbitopathy (GO) in the inactive phase regarding exophthalmos reduction and to compare the effects on quality of life of both surgical techniques.

Método

Forty-two patients with inactive GO were randomly divided into two groups and submitted to one of two orbital decompression (OD) techniques: IM-OD or ML-OD. Pre- and postoperative assessments included Hertel's exophthalmometry and a validated quality of life questionnaire (GO-QoL). The results of the two groups were compared.

Resultado

Exophthalmos reduction was statistically significant in both groups (p<0.001), but greater in patients undergoing ML-OD (p=0.010). Both OD techniques did not increase the visual functioning subscale score on the GO-QoL (IM-OD p=0.362; ML-OD p=0.727), but, on the other hand, there was a statistically significant improvement in the appearance subscale score in patients undergoing ML-OD (p=0.006).

Conclusão

IM-OD is a good alternative for patients not requiring large exophthalmos reduction. ML-OD offers more significant exophthalmos reduction; in addition, scores better on the GO-QoL regarding appearance improvement, becoming a good option for the esthetic-functional rehabilitation of GO patients. Clinical trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT03278964. Unique Protocol ID: 39748114.0.0000.0068