Müller's muscle in the treatment of upper eyelid retraction: a 12-year study.

Müller's muscle is a sympathetically innervated muscle that can be excised to relieve upper eyelid retraction. A graded, controlled excision of Müller's muscle, with or without recession of the levator aponeurosis, using sensory without motor anesthesia is an excellent technique for releasing thyroid-related upper eyelid retraction. The procedure is simple, based on anatomic and physiologic principles, tailored to the individual patient intraoperatively, and yields consistently good results. In a 12-year study of this procedure, 96% of the treated lids attained lid levels within 1.5 mm of the opposite side. Only seven of 156 treated eyelids required additional surgery.