Early American Strabismus Surgery: 1840-1845

The discovery of effective surgical therapy for strabismus was one of the outstanding triumphs of the first half of 19th-century ophthalmology, just prior to the invention of the ophthalmoscope in 1850. Although priority for the development of strabismus surgery belongs to Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach of Germany, who first reported his surgical results in 1839, 4 cases of tenotomy of the medial rectus muscle had been performed in the United States by William Gibson in 1818 but never published. By 1840, the reports of surgery in Europe had rapidly spread to America where surgeons immediately began using these procedures. The first American surgeon to perform eye muscle surgery and publish his results was John Dix of Boston, and other surgeons were soon reporting their cases as well. We discuss 8 American pioneers in this field during the time (1840-1845) of the first burst of enthusiasm for this surgery. Although these surgeons were active in performing a large number of cases and carefully reporting their experiences and results, they did not make any major advances in the field.