The Effect of Achieving Immediate Target Angle on Success of Strabismus Surgery in Children

To determine if achieving the ideal postoperative target range increases the long-term success of pediatric strabismus surgery.

Interventional case series.

Children below 12 years old with horizontal strabismus who underwent surgical correction by recession, resection, advancement, or a combination of both between 1996 and 2011 were included. Alignment was measured within 1 week and at a minimum of 6 months after surgery. The ideal postoperative target range was defined as 0-8 prism diopters (PD) of esotropia in exotropic patients and within 4 PD of orthotropia in esotropic patients measured within 1 week after the surgery. Success was defined as a measurement within 10 PD of orthotropia at the latest postoperative visit. The main outcome measures were surgical success rate and the factors affecting it.

We included 352 patients with mean follow-up of 18 months. Overall, patients within the target range had a higher success rate than those outside it (75.6% vs 57% P = .0004). This was highly significant for exotropia (P = .0002) but not for esotropia (P = .4). Multiple regression analysis revealed that being within target range was the strongest predictor of long-term success (odds ratio [OR] = 2.3, range 1.4-3.7). Overall, surgeries on patients with esotropia were more likely to be successful than on those with exotropia (OR = 1.9, range 1.2-3), and premature patients had poorer outcomes (OR = 0.2, range 0.1-0.8).

Achieving the ideal target range within 1 week after surgery is associated with a high rate of long-term success in exotropia surgery in children.