The Efficacy of Unilateral Rectus Resection in the Reoperation of Strabismus

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To study the efficacy of unilateral rectus resection in the surgical treatment of undercorrected or recurrent strabismus. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of patients who had undergone a unilateral rectus resection with at least 6 months (mean 35.6 months) of postoperative follow-up was performed. RESULTS: A resection of a single rectus muscle was undergone by 92 patients 70 underwent a unilateral resection of the medial rectus and 22 underwent a unilateral resection of the lateral rectus. The mean preoperative deviations of patients were 23.6+/-5.9 prism diopters (PD). The amount of unilateral medial rectus resection ranged from 3 to 7 mm and unilateral lateral rectus resection ranged from 5 to 10 mm. The satisfactory surgical result was considered to be any deviation within 8 PD. The success rates were 81.4% in the unilateral medial rectus resection group and 72.7% in the unilateral lateral rectus resection group. The satisfactory surgical result of the group of preoperative deviation less than or equal to 20 PD was 93.2%, the group of greater than 20 PD and less than or equal to 25 PD was 65.6% and the group of greater than 25 PD was 68.8%. This difference in results between three groups was statistically significant (p=0.006). CONCLUSIONS: The unilateral rectus resection is an effective procedure for the treatment of undercorrected or recurrent strabismus with small to moderate preoperative deviations.