Intradermal stitch blepharoplasty for orientals: does It disappear?

Intradermal stitch blepharoplasty is one of the most frequently performed aesthetic surgeries in Japan. The major disadvantage of this method is the general feeling that it is nonpermanent. Mutou and Mutou [1] first published this technique in 1972. From 1957 to 1997, they have performed 20,098 cases of this procedure. The aim of this study was to furnish a retrospective analysis of a failure rate after intradermal double-eyelid operations that had been performed by a single surgeon (Y. Mutou). We evaluated consecutive patients (male 115, female 1,457) from 1986 to 1993 who underwent intradermal blepharoplasty at Sapporo Chuo Keisei Geka Clinic. Fifty patients (male 3, female 47) revisited our clinic complaining of the "disappearance" or loss of the fold. The estimated disappearing rate was 3.43%. Thirty percent of the disappearance occurred within 1 year. Eighty-eight percent of the disappearances occurred within 5 years postoperatively.