Topical Suture Adjustments vs. Post-Operative Adjustments in Strabismus

Abstract

Adjustable suture surgery is a technique which continues to be at the forefront of techniques for correcting adult strabismus. Recent advancements in adult adjustable strabismus surgery include the use of topical anesthesia and intravenous sedation with an intraoperative adjustment.We performed a retrospective analysis comparing surgical results of topical (intraoperative) and conventional (postoperative) adjustable strabismus surgery on a group of randomly selected patient. The purpose was to compare the rates of cosmetic success, functional success and reoperative rates between the two groups. The rates of cosmetic success and functional success were greater in the topical (intraoperative adjusted) group. In addition, the reoperative rate was much less in the topical group of patients. Statistical analysis of our data showed a relative benefit of topical adjustable strabismus surgery compared to conventional strabismus surgery. The analysis did not show a significant statistical difference between the two groups.Topical adjustable strabismus surgery can increase accuracy of cosmetic and functional results in adult adjustable strabismus surgery. Most significantly, it can reduce the large overcorrections and undercorrections often seen after adult strabismus surgery.