Is there a chance of losing one's sight with upper eyelid surgery.

The risk of vision loss from upper eyelid surgery is extremely rare.  The risk of vision loss related to bleeding into or behind the eye is essentially zero if your surgeon simply removes eyelid skin or a little eyelid muscle.  The risk is slightly increased if the surgeon removes fat from behind your eyelid muscles or if during aggressive muscle excision, the fat compartment is violated and bleeding occurs in the fat compartment without it being controlled.  Aside from bleeding, possible injury to the cornea or eye globe can occur from inadvertent trauma from instruments, etc.  Overall, in the hands of a qualified and experienced surgeon, the risk of vision loss from upper eyelid surgery is so small (well less than 0.001%) that it is an almost complete non-factor when deciding to undergo upper blepharoplasty.  Hope that helps!

Blindness after eyelid surgery

Blindness after a blepharoplasty is extremely rare occurrence. It can be
caused by bleeding that puts pressure on optic nerve. Proper pre-operative
assessment of the patient as well as excellent surgical technique is paramount.
Any patient with unusual pain after a blepharoplasty needs to be assessed on
emergency bases to exclude this type of bleeding.

There is a membrane in the upper eyelid called the septum.  The orbital fat is located just behind this membrane.  If the surgeon wants to take out the fat, this membrane is opened.  It is also opened in a ptosis repair so that you can access the muscle.  Once the septum is opened there is a direct pathway to the back of the eye and the nerve.  If the patient has any bleeding that is not controlled during the surgery, blood may track behind the eye and compress the optic nerve causing visual loss.  Because of this, it is important to make sure there is NO bleeding before you close the incision.  If a patient starts to bleed post-op it is important that they be seen as soon as possible to open the wound which will decrease the pressure behind the eye, and stop any bleeding.  This is a very rare occurrence, but is seen from time to time.  

Blindness with blepharoplasty is very uncommon. If bleeding occurred to the extent that there was pressure on the opthalmic vessels causing occlusion, blindness could occur. It is our advice to avoid anything that causes thinning of the blood two weeks pre and post operatively

In the case of eyelid surgery, the cause of potential loss of vision is primarily related to uncontrolled bleeding behind the eyelids after surgery.  This is called a retro-bulbar hemorrhage.  The risk of injecting something into a blood vessel during eyelid surgery does not seem to be a significant cause of visual loss associated with eyelid surgery.  As Dr. Lay points out, this can occur with other aesthetic treatments like injecting fat or fillers.  The risk of visual loss from this type of service is thought to be even more rare than with eyelid surgery.  The take home message is that no, it is not zero.  There is a real risk.  If you are not comfortable with this risk, do not have these services.  For the eyelid surgery, you can improve your risks by very carefully following your surgeon's pre-operative instructions.  This generally means being off of drugs and herbal products that can thin the blood.  If you have a history of unusual bleeding at surgery or bruising, or members of your family have these issues, it is very important that you discuss this with your potential surgeon.  Despite these risks, eyelid surgery continues to be one of the very most popular cosmetic surgeries.

Yes, it is theoretically possible to lose vision from
elective aesthetic eyelid operations. Most surgeons will discuss this
possibility in their consultation or preoperative readings. Contouring of the
lid frequently requires the removal of fat from compartments that communicate
with the orbit. Within the orbit are a number of delicate structures, including
some blood vessels. Injury to these
vessels could produce bleeding behind the eye, which could apply pressure to
the nerves and influence vision. That being said, most board-certified plastic
surgeons with significant experience performing blepharoplasty feel that they
will likely go through their entire career without ever seeing a complication
that produces compromise of vision. Nothing substitutes however for good
judgment in the selection of proper surgical candidates, and Board
certification to make certain that your surgeon can manage any complication
that may arise.

A good question. Fortunately, Blindness is rare after upper eyelid surgery.The risk of blindness is due to increased risk of bleeding, clot formation and direct access to the optic nerve.This can happen if you have an increased tendency to bleed, you are on drugs that thin your blood, and the surgical procedure disrupts the orbital septum ( seen in ptosis correction and treatment of upper eyelid fat pads).You should check with your surgeon about the odds of the above occuring. For example, if you have a skin only upper eyelid surgery, your risk is very low.

Visual loss after eyelid surgery is extremely rare.  It is due to excessive bleeding behind the globe.  Medically it is called a retrobulbar hematoma.  The condition is so severe and painful that you would not just stay at home and think everything is going well.   Technically the operation is done differently that it was years ago and the risk of this problem is very low.  It is important to have your blood pressure under control and be off all aspirin containing products prior to surgery.  

It is extremely extremely rare for blindness to occur from an upper lid blepharoplasty.  But complications can happen.

Any complication is possible with any facial surgical procedure. With that said vision loss after either upper or lower blepharoplasty performed by an experienced surgeon is incredibly uncommon. This is not something that I have encountered in practice but it has been described.Stephen Weber MD, FACSDenver Facial Plastic Surgeon