The 'baseball' orbital implant was described by Frueh and Felker in 19
76. Although this implant was originally described for use as a second
ary implant, it has also been widely used as a primary implant at the
time of enucleation. This prospective study evaluated the effectivenes
s of this implant used both primarily and secondarily. Forty-four pati
ents were implanted between April 1990 and May 1991, 19 of the implant
s being primary and 25 secondary. A standardised operative and post-op
erative protocol was followed. The mean follow-up lime was 31 months (
range 23-36 months). The patients were evaluated for the degree of vol
ume replacement, implant and associated prosthesis motility, secondary
eyelid and socket problems, patient satisfaction, the need for furthe
r surgery and post-operative complications. The overall results achiev
ed by primary implantation were superior to those of secondary implant
ation. Our results suggest that this implant provides a satisfactory f
unctional and cosmetic rehabilitation of the anophthalmic patient with
few complications.