The eyelids have an external part, consisting of skin and the circular eye muscle, and an internal part, made up of the conjunctiva and connective tissue. Mechanical injuries to the eyelids are most often in the form of lacerations and in both dogs and cats are frequently observed following fights, after hunting, or playing in nature. Lacerations can be superficial, involving only the skin of the eyelid, or they can affect all layers of the eyelid. Regardless of how harmless an eyelid laceration initially appears, it should be taken seriously. Due to the contraction of the circular eye muscle, a small laceration can turn into a large tissue defect. Likewise, the newly formed scar can lead to the eyelid turning inwards or outwards. Any anatomical irregularity of the eyelid will disrupt its function, potentially leading to corneal damage. Such damages are most often caused by hairs originating from the eyelid skin, which, due to the tissue injury, end up on the eye surface, or by newly formed scar tissue on the edge of the eyelid that irritates the sensitive structures of the eye.
 
Therapy
Whenever there is an eyelid laceration, a thorough ophthalmologic examination should always be performed to determine if there are hidden injuries to the internal structures of the eye or a foreign body present in the eye. The wound should be surgically treated as soon as possible, restoring the eyelid edge to its anatomical state before the injury occurred. The wound should not be allowed to heal spontaneously due to the risk of forming an anatomical defect that will disrupt the physiological role of the eyelids, and also because of the potential for bacterial infection. For this reason, eyelid lacerations are surgically treated as quickly as possible. If necessary, a protective collar is placed around the dog's neck after the intervention, which aims to prevent the dog from tearing the sutures by scratching.
 
Please contact our specialty veterinary ophthalmology hospital Animal Eye Consultants
of Iowa (animaleyeiowa@gmail.com) in USA or Oculus Veterinary Specialty Hospital
(oculusklinika@gmail.com) in Serbia, Europe to schedule an appointment so your pet
can be seen.