Surgical Management with Particular Reference to Failure Rate in a Case Series of 1498 Consecutive Cases of Chalazion Incision and Curettage by a Single Practitioner

Abstract

A series of 1498 consecutive vertical incisions of chalazia was studied by the author to examine the spectrum of epidemiological presentation of chalazia for a population, the failure rate for incision and curettage and how each failure was managed. The number of incisions made in each chalazion was also examined as the author had developed an impression over the years that a better success rate was achieved with more than one incision. Using 3 vertical incisions, the 7.6% failure rate is considerably lower than previous studies in the literature in which only one incision was undertaken. This case series also supports a practical pragmatic approach as to how to manage failure of incision and curettage and questions the need for routine diagnostic biopsy to exclude ocular sebaceous cell carcinoma after first failure in incision and curettage.