Strabismus surgery outcomes after scleral buckling procedures for retinal reattachment

To investigate the outcomes of strabismus surgery in patients with a prior history of a scleral buckling procedure for retinal reattachment.

We reviewed the medical records of 18 patients who underwent strabismus surgery following a scleral buckling procedure and investigated the effect of multiple variables on postoperative alignment after strabismus surgery including gender, age, surgeon, number of strabismus surgeries, adjustable suture use, previous pars plana vitrectomy, preoperative best-corrected visual acuity, and scleral buckle removal. Outcomes were considered successful if there was ≤ 10 prism diopters (PD) residual horizontal and/or ≤ 4 PD residual vertical deviations. Statistical analyses were performed using Fisher's exact test, Mann-Whitney test, and nominal logistic regression.

Success using our criteria of motor alignment was achieved in 6 of 18 eyes (33%). A higher rate of success was found in the scleral buckle removal group (success with buckle removal, 62.5%; success without buckle removal, 10.0%; p = 0.04). Nominal logistic regression analysis showed scleral buckle removal was the most significant factor associated with successful surgical alignment (p = 0.03; odds ratio = 16.67). Although the success rate was higher in the adjustable suture group (50% in adjustable group vs 14.3% in non-adjustable group: Fisher's exact test, p = 0.30), this difference was not statistically significant. No retinal redetachments occurred after scleral buckle removal.

These results suggest that scleral buckles can be safely removed in selected patients with strabismus following retinal reattachment surgery and scleral buckle removal may improve ocular alignment following strabismus surgery.