Surgical management of primary exotropia in Cameroon

To assess the results of surgery of primary exotropia in Cameroon.

This is a retrospective study of all patients operated for primary exotropia in the Reference Hospital, Douala-Cameroon, between January 1992 and December 2005. Each case was operated once. The preoperative squint angle was measured the previous evening to surgery and the postoperative angle one year after surgery. The result was considered good when the postoperative angle was less than 10 prismatic dioptries (PD < 10).

61.3% of the 41 patients operated had good results. The average age of patients at the time of surgery was 18.7 years +/- 11.2. 80% of the patients had bilateral recession of the lateral recti and resection of the medial rectus of the more squinting eye under general anesthesia. The average preoperative angle of deviation was 44 +/- 9.5 PD and the average postoperative angle was 7.4 +/- 6.6 PD. None of the following factors affected the postoperative result: age at which squint manifested, preoperative angle, age at surgery, surgical technique, presence of amblyopia and whether the squint was intermittent or constant.

Our results are encouraging and reinforce our plea for the training of more ophthalmologists and the equipment of more hospitals for squint surgery.