Surgically induced astigmatism following medial rectus recession: short-term and long-term outcomes

The current study aimed to investigate short- and long-term postoperative ocular refractive effects of medial rectus recession on the involved eye and to describe the detectable effects in detail by the results of vector analysis.

Data of patients in whom medial rectus recession was performed between 2010 and 2012 were retrospectively evaluated. The study included 52 eyes of 32 patients. Patients with a history of previous ocular surgery, congenital or progressive corneal disease, familial or acquired posterior segment disease, glaucoma, a history of ocular trauma, or any neurological or systemic disease were excluded. Best-corrected and uncorrected visual acuities and refraction examination findings of the patients were recorded before the surgery and at the postoperative first month and first year. A vector analysis program was used to analyze surgically induced astigmatism.

Significant myopic shift and astigmatic change were determined in the spherical equivalent refraction in the early postoperative period (first month); however, these changes disappeared in the long term (at the postoperative first year). A positive correlation was not observed between the amount of surgical recession and the results of ophthalmic examination at the postoperative first month and first year.

Only postoperative first month spherical equivalent showed a positive correlation with the amount of surgical recession; however, this correlation disappeared at the postoperative first year.