Box Osteotomy

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am interested in a Box Osteotomy procedure. I realize this is not a routine operation but I was wondering whether you have ever performed it before and what criteria a patient would need to have to be eligible for such an invasive procedure? I am a male, with no deformities or large abnormalties but my mid face ratio isn’t very good so was looking into ways to improve it as mid face shortening isn’t possible. My eyes are less than one eye width apart from one another. So I just wanted to know a little about the procedure and whether theres any possibility of me getting it, or if its too dangerous and only done on very deformed patients. Thank you.

A: Thank you for your inquiry. When you say ‘Box Osteotomy’ I assume you are referring to orbital osteotomies done in cases of congenital hypertelorism. This is an operation for severe craniofacial deformities and is not appropriate for aesthetic eye spacing  issues. It is a major surgery that requires a frontal craniotomy to perform it. Just by the description alone you can see the the magnitude of the surgery far exceeds any aesthetic eye concerns.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana