Surgical management of nonparalytic exotropia.

Abstract

IN REVIEWING the literature on the surgical treatment of strabismus, one is impressed by the fact that most of the recent reports have dealt with the management of the vertical muscles and esotropia. The paucity of reports on exotropia may mean that to many ophthalmologists this type of case presents no problem. We have been impressed, however, by the many types of operative procedures utilized by various surgeons in attempting to correct exotropia. Recently, while reviewing the surgical results in a series of intermittent exotropias, one of us (R. D. M.) was surprised to find that in a group of 31 clinic patients, 40 operations had been performed utilizing 13 different types of surgical procedures. We realize that the various combinations of operative procedures which are theoretically possible with the lengthening and shortening of the four lateral rectus muscles is greater than 13, but we do not believe that basically