Personalized Medicine in Orbital Surgery

The goal of this article is to explore how an orbital surgeon brings a personalized approach to the operating room. It aims to broadly consider the goals of personalized care and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, highlight several major conditions that orbital surgeons encounter, and comment on high profile technologies on the horizon.

The surgical techniques employed by orbital surgeons have always accounted for the anatomical details specific to each individual case. Advances in molecular diagnostics, computer aided surgical planning, and intraoperative navigation have positively impacted how a surgeon prepares a patient for the operating room, how surgery is done, and the choice of therapies available to patients with orbital conditions.

Personalized care starts with concern for the patient, above all else. The number of newly available tests and tools may seem overwhelming, but whether it is adjunctive chemotherapies for tumors, computer-aided surgical planning, or a personalized implant for orbital fracture repair, this progress allows an orbital surgery patient’s care team to deliver treatment with greater precision.