[The surgical management of strabismus following orbitotomy]

To analyze the clinical features and therapeutic outcome in patients with strabismus due to orbitotomy.

Retrospective case series. Nine cases of strabismus following orbital operation seen between March 1998 and July 2003 in Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-sen University were reviewed retrospectively.

All of the 9 cases were treated by strabismus surgery. Among them, 5 cases were male and 4 were female, with their age ranging from 12 to 40 years (average 26.4 years). The right eye was involved in 4 cases and the left one in 5 cases. Most of them belonged to restrictive strabismus secondary to the formation of surgical scar, accounting for 66.7% of them. The methods of surgery included the excision of fibrous tissue around the involved extraocular muscle, the routine recession and resection and the Jensen procedure, combined with the fixation suture. Six cases obtained excellent results. Two cases were slightly undercorrected and one case was remarkably undercorrected. Of the 4 cases with diplopia before operation, the diplopia disappeared in 2 cases after surgery. The other 2 cases had diplopia only in one direction far away from the primary position. All of the ocular movement improved obviously after strabismus surgery.

Most of the deviation happened after orbitotomy was restrictive strabismus caused by the muscle fibrosis and scar formation around the muscle. Excision of fibrotic tissue, combined with the routine recession and resection, Jensen procedure, and the fixation suture can have quite satisfactory results.