Johanna Berggren and Kajsa Tenland has published a popular science article in the membership magazine "Nya Synvärlden" of the Association for Vision Rehabilitation (Föreningen för synrehabilitering),  describing how new surgical technique for eyelid tumors simplifies the process in patients with visual impairment.

At the eye clinic in Lund new technologies for measuring blood flow during tumor surgery in the eye area are in use. This has led to the development of new surgical techniques, which lead to reduced suffering for patients during
the healing process. To repair the holes after removal of larger tumors of the lower eyelid and recreate the front part of the eyelid, excess skin is often borrowed from the upper eyelid or from the patient's upper arm, a so-called free skin graft. An accepted rule and tradition in eyelid reconstructions is that a free skin graft must placed against a vascularized bed for oxygenation and nutrition. A vascular flap is stretched from the upper eye lid resulting in that the patient’s eyelids are sutured together for three weeks or more and that the eyelids are not cut open until one assumes that blood circulation is secured. These tumors often affect elderly and sick patients, who has impaired vision of  the other eye as well. To walk with a closed eye is very disabling and it is not uncommon for the patient to live these weeks in blindness. Even if the vision is good on the non-affected eye, disturbed stereo vision may cause fall accidents. Johanna and Kajsa describes that the research group, by studying the blood flow in the flaps, have shown that the flap lack blood flow and that it thereby has no function. They also describe how the research group could show that the transplant recover anyway and that eyelids can manage to survive in much lower levels of oxygen and nutrients than previously known. By performing a transplant without the vascular flap there is no longer a need for closing the patient eyelids or a second surgery to open the eyelids.

The complete article, in Swedish, can be found for download below.