Modified Nishida's procedure in a case of medial rectus hypoplasia

Introduction: We report a case of large angle exotropia in a child with limitation of adduction in the left eye with a radiological finding of hypoplastic medial rectus. Methods: A 3- year- old male child presented with left eye large angle exotropia, left face turn, -4 adduction limitation and severe amblyopia. Orbital imaging revealed hypoplasia of the medial rectus and intraoperatively a thin medial rectus was noted. The surgical procedure planned was lateral rectus recession combined with Modified Nishida's technique in the left eye. In this technique the superior and inferior recti were transposed medially by inserting non-absorbable sutures in the sclera posteriorly, closer to the upper and lower borders of the medial rectus muscle. Result: There was improvement in adduction of left eye and reduction of original deviation following maximal lateral rectus recession and a modified Nishida's approach. The early and optimal correction of exotropia also improved the compliance to patching with subsequent gain in visual acuity of the amblyopic eye. Conclusion: Modified Nishida's technique has the advantage of no muscle splitting and no tenotomy, remains a less invasive surgical procedure to correct large deviations. The modification of placing the bellies closer to medial rectus augments the effect and further improves adduction in cases with severe limitation of adduction. This technique can thus be considered as a possible surgical approach in young children with large angle exotropia due to hypoplastic medial rectus.