[Eyelid burns].

Reconstruction of eyelids following burns has two fold objective: functional and esthetic. Except in the must severe forms (carbonization) eyelids' burns usually involve only superficial lesions. Surgery, by means of a skin graft only, may be required after initial medical treatment. The choice of a graft among those considered standard, (full-thickness skin graft for the lower lid, thinner graft for the upper lid) should be guided by anatomophysiological considerations. Treatment in each case varies according to the anatomic type and the stage of evolution of the burn; whether the orbicularis muscle has been affected or not, should determine the choice of the graft. Certain points of this surgical technique have to be emphasized: the need for respecting esthetic unity; for careful dissection sparing the orbicularis; for fixation of the graft on the medial canthus, and lastly, the necessity of performing surgery of upper and lower lids in two stages so that the lid is "in surocclusion" during each operative procedure. Treatment of eyelids' burns as described above, is well established. It is very different from that for total facial burns, which requires total operative strategy.