Rau ´l Go ´mez Ruiz Bernardo Hontanilla Calatayud Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Clı ´nica Universidad de Navarra, Av. Pı´o XII, 36, 31008 Pamplona, Spain E-mail address: bhontanill@unav.es ª 2012 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjps.2012.06.019 A convenient retainer for artificial eye sockets Dear Sir, In making an artificial eye socket, care should be taken to deepen the superior and inferior conjunctiva fornixes so that the artificial eye is firmly supported when it is worn inside the socket. However, it is not easy to maintain the depths of the superior and inferior conjunctiva fornixes, because they gradually grow shallow as scar contracture develops postoperatively. 1 Prevention of the trans- formation is essential to secure the stability of the artificial eye. We developed an original device that is useful to achieve this purpose. Our original device consists of a multi-purpose rubber catheter (used for such purposes as urination and suction) and surgical guide wire (used to introduce gastric tubes or intravenous catheters). First, part of a rubber catheter is cut out so that the loop made of it matches the expected size of the eye socket (Figure 1(A)). Then, a surgical guide wire is introduced inside the catheter (Figure 1(B)). The surgical wire is cut to the length of two to three times the circumference of the catheter loop (Figure 1(C)). To avoid sticking out, both ends of the wire are placed inside the catheter loop (Figure 1(D)). Thus, a component consisting of a rubber catheter and a surgical wire e where the surgical wire forms double or triple loops inside the rubber loop e is made. This device is covered with the skin or mucosa grafts with which the artificial eye socket is to be constructed (Figure 2(E)). Thereafter, the skin or mucosa pieces are grafted together with the device to the site where the eye socket should be made (Figure 2(F)). As the device works to expand the graft because of the plasticity of the surgical wire, the initial size of the eye socket is maintained despite potential contracture of the surrounding tissues. Two to three months postoperatively e when the eye socket stabilises e the device is removed. As artificial eye-socket retainers, various devices such as silicone retainers have been previously reported. 2 However, the existing devices lack expandability, which limits functioning as a retainer. Furthermore, they need to be prepared prior to the operation, and it is often revealed during operation that initially prepared sizes do not necessarily match the actually required socket size. On the other hand, our original device maintains expandability for a long period, preserving the depths of the constructed eye socket. Furthermore, it can be prepared easily, as its components rubber catheters and surgical guide wires are available in any operation room. Because of these advantages, we recommend our orig- inal device as a useful tool for artificial eye-socket construction. Figure 1 (A) The rubber catheter is cut and rounded. The central object is a folded skin piecedto be grafted to form the inner aspect of the artificial socket. (B) A surgical wire piece is introduced inside the rubber catheter. (C) The surgical wire is introduced to form a double or triple circle. (D) The ends of the wire are placed inside the rubber catheter. 1598 Correspondence and communications