Is Orbital Decompression Surgery Safe For A Patient With Grave's Disease?

Posted on Tue, 23 Jun 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 23 Jun 2015 Answered on

Fri, 17 Jul 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : I have hypothyroidism, first started with hyperthyroidism in 99'. During that time I also developed Graves Disease. My eyes protruded (pic is attached).
My question: I researched and found info about eye decompression surgery. Wanted to know is this a safe surgery, or is there any other kind of ways safer or even natural to reduce swelling and return eye to normal?

Thanks
Hello I have uploaded 2 pics of eyes to help your evaluation.

Answered by Dr. Binu Parameswaran Pillai (6 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Orbital decompression surgery

Detailed Answer:
Good day.
Noted your concerns. thank you for posting the pictures. The photos shows that you have moderate proptosis. there are no evidence of active graves eye disease now. Eye surgery is done in graves disease during initial active phases if the eye disease is not responding to medicines and if it threatens the vision. Later on during follow up phase, a cosmetic procedure is done like in your case. This is usually safe. You may consult an eye surgeon. There are various types of cosmetic eye decompression surgeries. At this stage there are no other natural ways. During active phase, SELENIUM helps. Smoking is bad for thyroid eye disease and even partial smoking can worsen it.
Regards
Binu

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Binu Parameswaran Pillai (9 hours later)

I'm very interested in reducing swelling. Does steroids help with reducing swelling? Is it possible for my eyes to ever return to normal on their own?
Lastly, one doctor I went said laser surgery was better because it reduces risk of damaging nerves vs. decompression because there are so many.
Any views on this?

Answered by Dr. Binu Parameswaran Pillai (3 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Surgery is time tested

Detailed Answer:
steroids will not help at this stage of your eye disease. as I mentioned earlier , they are helpful only in the acute stage of disease. surgery is time tested . Laser is a new modality and require high skills. Unfortunately, there are minimal or nil chances of your eyes returning to original state on its own. sorry to say this. you need to meet a specialised center experienced in Thyroid eye disease.
regards XXXXXXX

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar