Muscle surgery in patients with Graves' disease using topical anesthesia

To report our experience in extraocular muscle surgery for Graves' disease using topical anesthesia.

Retrospective, noncomparative, observational case series.

In 135 patients with Graves' disease, a total of 200 ocular muscles were operated during the past 20 years at the Department of Ophthalmology, Ludwig-Maximilian-University, Munich, Germany.

Surgery was performed under topical anesthesia with tetracaine hydrochloride 1% eyedrops. Because of the restrictive nature of the motility impairment, recession of the muscles was used in all patients. The exact amount of recession was determined during the operation with active cooperation from the patient.

Binocular single vision and the angle of deviation were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively.

Postoperative binocular single vision in the primary position was achieved by 78.7% of the patients on the first postoperative day. Subsequent evaluation demonstrated binocular single vision in 91.9% of all patients and in 96.4% of the group with only 1 muscle (inferior rectus) operated.

The authors have demonstrated that topical anesthesia is a feasible and reliable method for performing extraocular muscle surgery in patients with Graves' disease. Intraoperative patient discomfort seemed insignificant, and the active cooperation of the patient in finding the appropriate extent of surgery was advantageous. The overall results showed that deviation surgery with the use of topical anesthesia is highly successful in restoring binocular single vision in patients with endocrine orbitopathy.