The Effect of Ophthalmic Surgery for Graves' Orbitopathy on Quality of Life: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Graves' orbitopathy (GO) has a profound negative impact on quality of life. Surgery is undertaken to preserve vision, correct diplopia, and improve aesthetics. We sought to quantify the effect of different surgical approaches on quality of life. Methods: Electronic databases Ovid–MEDLINE and EMBASE were used from inception until March 22, 2021, to identify studies assessing quality of life pre- and postsurgical intervention for GO. Two reviewers independently extracted data and performed quality assessments. Random-effects and Bayesian models for meta-analyses were utilized. Results: Ten articles comprising 632 patients with a mean age of 48.4 years (range 16–85 years) were included. All used the Graves' Ophthalmopathy Quality of Life (GO-QOL) questionnaire. For GO-QOL appearance, the pooled standardized mean improvement for patients after surgery was +0.72 (95% confidence interval [CI 0.50–0.94]), I2 = 69% [CI 52–80%]. For GO-QOL visual functioning, the pooled standardized mean difference (SMD) for patients after surgery was +0.41 [CI 0.25–0.58], I2 = 60% [CI 36–74%]. For visual appearance, orbital decompression yielded the greatest improvement (SMD +0.84 [CI 0.54–1.13]) followed by eyelid surgery (SMD +0.38 [CI 0.05–0.70]), while strabismus correction had no significant effect (SMD +0.94 [CI −0.10 to 1.99]). Conversely strabismus correction was associated with the greatest improvement (SMD +1.25 [CI 0.29–2.21]) in visual functioning, outperforming orbital decompression (SMD +0.29 [CI 0.15–0.43]) and eyelid surgery (SMD +0.12 [CI −0.18 to 0.41]). A mean improvement in GO-QOL of greater than 10 points after orbital decompression surgery was achieved in 12/14 (86%) patient groups for appearance and 5/14 (36%) patient groups for visual functioning. A mean improvement of greater than 6 points was achieved in 5 of 6 (83%) patient groups for strabismus surgery for both appearance and visual functioning. A mean improvement of greater than 6 points after eyelid surgery was achieved in 2/3 (67%) patient groups and 0/3 patient groups for visual appearance and functioning, respectively. Conclusion: Ophthalmic surgery results in substantial improvements in quality of life in patients with GO, with greater perceived effects on appearance than visual function. Orbital decompression has particular impact on visual appearance; strabismus surgery may benefit both visual appearance and function equally, whereas eyelid surgery benefits appearance alone.