Inferior oblique muscle injury from local anesthesia for cataract surgery

Vertical rectus muscle injury is commonly cited as a cause of strabismus after cataract surgery. Injury to the inferior oblique muscle or nerve as a complication of cataract surgery has not been described previously.

Four patients without pre-existing strabismus who had diplopia after cataract surgery were studied. Analysis included prism and cover testing, Lancaster red-green testing, and fundus torsion assessment.

Three patients had a delayed-onset hypertropia with fundus extorsion in the eye that underwent surgery, which is consistent with inferior oblique muscle overaction secondary to presumed contracture. The fourth patient had an immediate-onset hypotropia with fundus intorsion in the eye that underwent surgery, which is consistent with inferior oblique muscle paresis. Damage to a vertical rectus muscle or "unmasking" of a pre-existing superior oblique muscle paresis could not explain the history and findings in this group of four patients.

The inferior oblique muscle contracture observed in three patients may have been caused by local anesthetic myotoxicity, whereas the paresis observed in one patient may have been due to mechanical trauma or anesthetic toxicity directly to the nerve innervating the muscle. Inferior oblique muscle or nerve injury should be considered as another possible cause of postoperative strabismus, especially when significant fundus torsion accompanies a vertical deviation.