[Early detection and treatment of strabismus]

An early diagnosis of strabismus is important in order to rule out treatable organic causes and in children, if indicated, to start as early as possible with an amblyopia treatment. Early detection will also decrease the risk for accidents secondary to diplopia, to the loss of binocular vision and to the restriction of the binocular visual field in case of esodeviations. The following therapeutic options exist: in some cases the prescription of the correct refraction will be sufficient, for small deviations a prismatic correction may allow a longstanding treatment, for larger or incomitant deviations strabismus surgery will be necessary, which nowadays can be performed using minimal-invasive technique on an outpatient base.