Orbital exenteration with spontaneous granulation.

Excision of the orbital contents by orbital exenteration is required in the treatment of some eyelid and orbital carcinomas. Allowing the orbit to heal spontaneously with granulation tissue has several advantages over the popular technique of lining the orbital walls with a split-thickness skin graft. The use of granulation tissue is simpler, since it avoids the needs for obtaining a skin graft, and the final result is cosmetically more acceptable, because a shallower cavity occurs compared with the skin graft technique. The main disadvantages are that it takes longer for the orbit to heal and dressing changes are required more frequently. The spontaneous granulation technique has provided excellent results in 12 patients with exenterated orbits.