[Short-term and long-term prognosis of recession-resection surgery for exotropia]

The short- and long-term results of recession-resection surgery on 141 exotropic patients were analyzed. The corrected angle of exodeviation one week after surgery was not affected by age at surgery, state of binocular vision or the type of intermittent exotropia. The corrected exodeviation was larger when the pre-operative exodeviation exceeded 30 prism diopters or when previous surgery had been performed. Since there was no difference between the angle of deviation at 4 and 8 years postoperatively, the period of four years was considered to be appropriate for long-term assessment. Post-operative exophoria of less than 15 prism diopters were obtained in patients whose short-term results were overcorrected or were under 5 prism diopters of exodeviation. The surgical guideline for exotropia should be determined considering the short-term and the long-term prognosis. It was concluded that the optimal time for surgery was between 5 and 10 years of age.