Surgical Management of Constant Exotropia at Tertiary Eye Care Centre

OBJECTIVE: To determine the post surgical stability of ocular alignment in constant exotropia. DESIGN: Retrospective observational clinical analysis. SETTING AND PERIOD: Department of ophthalmology, Unit-III. Liaquat University Eye hospital, Hyderabad from January 2003 to December 2008. METHODS: This study was conducted on patients of all ages with socially noticeable exodeviation undergoing strabismus surgery. Anterior segment slit lamp examination and if possible posterior segment examination with 90 D and 78 D fundoscopes was performed. Angle of deviation was measured in prismatic diopters (PD). Surgical intervention was carried out under general anesthesia. Single surgery was performed on each registered patient. Postoperative follow-up was done at 3 days, 15 days, 3 months and 6 months. RESULTS: Thirty five patients underwent surgical correction of exotropia. Twenty seven (77.1%) completed post-operative follow up of six months. 66.6% subjects retained orthophoria after surgery. 18.6% patients experienced residual deviation and 14.8% exhibited consecutive deviation at sixth month post-operative follow up. CONCLUSION: The timely surgical correction of exotropia successfully restores visual alignment, binocular function and a high degree of patient’s satisfaction.