In office, out-patient Local anesthesia with intravenous or oral sedation is the most comfortable and the safest way of performing eyelid surgery where the patient experiences first a "twilight sleep" and then the local anesthetic and surgery is carried out with the patient unaware and very comfortable. The procedure for both upper and lower eyelid surgery together takes a little over an hour to perform. The patient is in the office for a total of about 2 hours.
When the surgery is finished, the patient is wide-awake and ready to get up and go home. We ask the patient not to drive until the next day. At home our patients can take care of themselves but it is easier to have somebody there with them the first 24 hours. There is generally only mild discomfort that responds to Tylenol. Dr. Maddox will call the patient that evening to see if he or she is resting ok and to see if they have any questions. We never use general anesthesia. One will experience swelling and/or bruising that takes ten to fourteen days to resolve. We send everyone home with a bag of frozen peas in a baggy over their eyes to minimize the swelling. Most patients take three to 7 days off work. However, it is going to take a minimum of 10 to 14 days to look ok as far as the bruising is concerned. While the eyes will look normal to others in 14 days, there will be subtle changes that only the patient and Dr. Maddox will be aware of for four months.
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