PURPOSE: To evaluate rabbit adipocytes of the orbital fat tissue after enucleation and evisceration. METHODS: Twenty-tree specimens from 23 rabbits aged 42 days which had undergone socket surgery (evisceration and enucleation) were evaluated. The animals were sacrificed on the 30th, 90th and 180th postoperative day. The orbital fat tissue was prepared for light microscope evaluation (magnification: 200x) and analyzed by IpWin 32 software program. The number of cells in each field and the area of each adipocyte were used to calculate the cell median area. The data were compared between the groups (enucleation and evisceration) and submitted to statistical analysis by a non-parametrical test. RESULTS: There were no statistical differences when considering the mean area of adipocytes between enucleation or evisceration or time of sacrifice. CONCLUSION: The volume decrease in the anophthalmic cavity is not related to orbital fat atrophy. The genesis of orbital volume reduction might result from the spacial distribution and interrelationships of the orbital soft tissue rather than changes in volume of adipocytes.
Adipose tissue; Eye enucleation; Eye evisceration; Orbit; Prosthesis design; Rabbits
