Complications

Complication
Timeframe
Likelihood
long term
high

People with trichiasis can expect to develop corneal opacity within several years if left untreated. Corneal opacity can result in permanent visual loss if it affects the visual axis.

variable
low

Likelihood is low with high-quality surgery.

Very high recurrence rates have been reported, but lower rates (≤10%) are achievable with meticulous surgical procedure.​[64][65]​ Adjunctive azithromycin given at the time of surgery may help decrease postoperative recurrence in areas with high levels of infection.[66][67]​ Posterior lamellar tarsal rotation surgery is associated with significantly lower rates of recurrence than bilamellar tarsal rotation surgery.[63]

As surgery only corrects the architecture of the eyelid but does not alter the pathological process, which may continue, some degree of recurrence is probably inevitable due to the natural history of trachomatous trichiasis and the ongoing scarring of the tissue.

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