Should I Have Skull Augmentation Before Or After Eye Surgery?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am writing to ask for your professional opinion regarding the appropriate timing of a skull implant surgery in relation to a possible eye surgery.

I am planning to undergo a skull implant procedure in approximately two years. I have a history of strabismus, for which I had two successful corrective surgeries during childhood. Under normal circumstances, my eyes are well aligned; however, in the past, a minor head impact temporarily caused my strabismus to recur for a short time. Since then, I have also had a rhinoplasty involving significant bone manipulation, yet I experienced no issues with my eyes afterward.

My question is, in your opinion, which sequence would be more appropriate: having the eye surgery before the skull implant procedure, or after it? Additionally, I would like to ask whether there would be any risk or problem if the eye surgery were performed prior to the skull implant surgery.

A:Since I am not aware of any adverse effect on the eyes from a skull augmentation procedure I don’t think the order would matter. However in the unexpected event that there is some adverse connection then logically you would do the skull implant procedure first because it is a larger procedure that causes a lot more surrounding head swelling.

Dr. Barry Eppley