Bilateral Blepharoplasty and Shortening of the Third Eyelid Cartilage as Treatment for Chronic Corneal Ulceration in a Giant Rabbit-A Case Report.

Combined eyelid wedge excision and third eyelid cartilage shortening resolves chronic corneal erosions from adnexal abnormalities in giant rabbits.

This case report documents the successful surgical management of complex bilateral adnexal abnormalities in a 2-year-old male giant rabbit presenting with chronic, recurrent corneal erosions. The patient exhibited a combined dorsal entropion-ectropion with macroblepharon alongside an elongated and folded nictitating membrane, both contributing to persistent corneal pathology. These conformational abnormalities, likely breed-related in the giant rabbit phenotype, resulted in mechanical trauma to the corneal epithelium and chronic keratitis that failed to resolve without surgical intervention. The surgical approach consisted of bilateral wedge excision of the upper eyelids to address the entropion-ectropion-macroblepharon complex, combined with shortening of the third eyelid cartilage to correct nictitating membrane elongation and folding. This dual-procedure strategy targeted both sources of corneal irritation simultaneously. Postoperatively, complete resolution of the corneal erosions was achieved, with no recurrence documented over a 12-month follow-up period, indicating a durable surgical outcome. This report is clinically significant as it highlights the importance of thorough adnexal evaluation in rabbits presenting with corneal disease, particularly in giant breeds predisposed to conformational anomalies. It also demonstrates that techniques adapted from canine and feline ophthalmic surgery can be successfully applied in lagomorphs. The described combined surgical approach may serve as a viable treatment model for veterinary ophthalmologists managing erosive corneal disease attributable to eyelid and nictitating membrane abnormalities in rabbits.

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