ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Surgeons perform either symmetrical lateral rectus recession or monocular recession of the lateral rectus and resection of the medial rectus (recession/resection procedure) in order to correct simulated divergence excess intermittent exotropia, X(T). We compared the results of these two procedures using surgical outcomes. METHODS: A total of 49 patients with simulated divergence excess X(T) were included in this study; among these 49, 32 underwent symmetrical lateral rectus recession and 17 underwent recession/resection procedure. Surgery was defined successful when the horizontal angle of deviation was within 8 prism diopters or less at distance and near at the last follow-up. RESULTS: The rate of success at the time of final follow-up was 68.8% in those who underwent symmetrical lateral rectus recession and 70.6% in those who underwent recession/resection procedure, showing no statistically significant difference between the two groups (p>0.05). Furthermore, there were also no significant differences in the undercorrection, overcorrection rates and the decrease in the deviation at distance and near between the two surgical procedures (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: No difference was present between the two methods examined in this study; thus, either of the two methods would be suitable for the correction of simulated divergence excess X(T).